Intersecting Lines Book 3
by unicorn1111
Summary: Sequel to Intersecting Lines Books 1 and 2, however you don't need to have read those to enjoy this one. Jane and Maura's life in Los Angeles continues to have complications as they plan their future together. Cameos are to definitely be expected and I hope to stick to a chapter posted every few days till complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Welcome to Book 3 of the Intersecting Lines series.

When I started this way back in July 2012 I truly had no idea of the size of what I was embarking on, nor how welcoming the readership here would be. Now the Intersecting Lines universe is approaching almost 1 million words across all the stories. Thank you to all my readers for the time you have given, to read, to comment, to follow and favourite, it is really gratefully appreciated.

A quick synopsis of what has gone before for new readers.

In Intersecting Lines Book 1 Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles, about seven months after moving from friends to lovers, have taken a secondment in Los Angeles to give their relationship a chance to grow far from Boston and the often hostile attention their relationship has brought; Maura to take over the Medical Examiner's role for the Los Angeles Police Department and Jane as a detective assigned to the LAPDs Major Crimes squad, under Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (The Closer).

There they meet Natalie Dearing, the LAPDs new media manager and her partner Anastasia Romanov, the newly assigned FBI Liaison Officer to the LAPD. During the next several months a friendship grows between them which in turn expands to take in Brenda Leigh Johnson and her close friend Sharon Raydor, the head of Force Investigation Division, the section that investigates officer-involved shootings.

With the help and active encouragement of all four, Brenda and Sharon build upon their friendship; both are single and lonely and are encouraged to act upon their potential as a couple, Sharon having previously been involved with a woman. Overcoming their misgivings and fears, Sharon and Brenda have embarked on a relationship while working together to investigate a series of suspicious shootings at the hands of two detectives, members of the LAPD's Robbery / Homicide squad.

During their time in Los Angeles, Jane and Maura were instrumental in closing several major cases, including a deranged sniper; a drug-cartel linked mass shooting and a car bombing at the LAPD Annual Ball. Following an invitation from Deputy Chief Johnson, they have decided to stay in Los Angeles and build a new life for themselves there.

Book 1 ended at midnight on New Year's Eve, when Jane proposed to Maura in front of their closest friends, Olivia Benson and Alex Cabot (Law and Order: SVU) visiting from New York, Anastasia and Natalie and Brenda and Sharon.

Intersecting Lines Book 2 picked up less than a month later and saw the group solve a number of high profile cases, including the death of a rap star, a home invasion ring, a weapons smuggling operation and eventually unravelling the actions of six corrupt officers who were acting as paid killers for a drug cartel. It also put Olivia back in touch with her former rookie on the beat, Kate Beckett (Castle) during a night at a ball in New York.

Book 2 ended with Anastasia proposing to Natalie and Jane and Maura planning their future wedding and family.

If you would like some backstory to Jane and Maura and Olivia and Alex getting together, please read my short story ' **Hearts on the Shopping Block** ', which deals with that specific night. Additional background on the friendship between Olivia Benson and Kate Beckett can be found in the short series ' **Hampton's Hiatus** ' and the longer story ' **Breaking Barriers** ' which features Olivia and Kate, with cameos from the teams from Castle and CSI – NY.

Other stories dealing with the people of the Intersecting Lines 'verse' can be found in my ongoing series of short stories posted as ' **Intersecting Lines; Possession and Passion** ' and ' **Intersecting Lines: Drabbles** '.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope you decide to join me on their journey.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **01 Shopping**

Jane's viewpoint

I should hate, this, I really should. Not only were we out shopping, not even close to one of my favourite things, but we were out clothes shipping, up there with shoe shopping as stuff I hated with a passion. My idea of clothes shopping was simple, I liked to walk in, find something I like, a button down maybe, make sure it fitted; buy four or five all the same then walk out; shopping done and on to something I actually liked doing.

Unfortunately that's not how Maura operated; she'd been appalled, discreetly but still appalled, when she'd first seen my shopping style in action. In her case shopping involved lots of 'compare, contrast and consider' then move on to the next store and do the same, over and over until she'd exhausted her options; and me too. Then and only then would she finally make a decision and, retracing our steps through all the stores, buy something form here, something from there, somehow despite the process she ended up with it all coming together to look amazing on her.

Mind you, this was Maura we're talking about, she makes anything look good; hell she makes scrubs look sexy and let me tell you, television to the contrary, scrubs are not fashionable. In fact Maura had once told me that the scrubs you see on the television shows are actually tailored to the actor's body shapes to make them look better, they're nothing like the real things which have all the tailored shape of garbage bags, given all that I was at a loss as to how she looked so good in them till one day she confessed that she ordered her scrubs from one of those same companies. It might have been cheating, but I'd always appreciated the sight of her looking so good in them, now even more so as I occasionally got to see her take them off too.

In this case while we were out shopping we were well out of her usual haunts; instead passing through a series of high-end men's clothing stores, looking at wedding suits. Maura had taken my statement that I wasn't going to wear a wedding dress pretty well all things considered, mind you when I told her I was thinking of a men's-style wedding suit I could see she'd found that idea more than satisfactory, she'd loved it every time I'd won a tuxedo to one of her fancy social events, as her behaviour when we'd got home and me out of it had happily proven.

So now we were looking at suits, I'd had a vague idea of what I wanted, or so I thought, but honestly I'd never seen so many styles, I thought guy's clothes were so much easier than women's but I was reconsidering that as I looked at rack upon rack of suits with tails, with vests, single breasted, double breasted, you name it and there was a huge range of styles in every colour of the rainbow and that was before you got to waistcoats and cravats and ties and cummerbunds and everything else.

We'd been at it for a couple of hours and I'd finally put my foot down, holding out in the face of that teasing pout and demanding we call a temporary halt for a coffee. So now were sitting in a café, enjoying the peace, if only for a moment; naturally being Maura and clothing we're talking about the moment didn't last long as she started quizzing me for my thoughts and preferences on what we'd seen so far.

"I dunno Maur, don't you have a preference? I mean a wedding's all about the bride, no one's gonna care what I'm wearing, all eyes are gonna be on you" She shook her head with a smile.

"Au contraire darling, not only will what we select have to compliment what I will be wearing, but we have to find an outfit that suits both Olivia and Anastasia's quite diverse body shapes, their figures are both significantly different than yours and thus we need to determine a style that is suited to each of you" I raised an eyebrow.

"Nice play on words there Maur" I smiled as I saw her mentally replay our conversation before a grin broke out.

"Yes, it was actually, wasn't it?" I nodded, happy to see her happy.

"That it was" We sat back, enjoying the sunshine, I have to say while I missed some of the best parts of Boston, friends and family, the Sox, the Patriots, that sort of thing, the worst of Boston's winters weren't part of it. Los Angeles had turned out to be a really good change; here we were sitting out enjoying the warm afternoon as we sipped our coffees, from where I was sitting right now life was pretty damned good.

Mind you that summed up most things out here. We'd found a good place with the LAPD, some outstanding friends in Natalie and Anastasia, my boss Brenda and her partner Sharon, the guys in the Major Crimes team, since we'd got here we'd done a lot of really good work and enjoyed most of it.

There'd been downsides of course; having cartel assassins and gangers coming after us because we were closing in on a gang of corrupt cops hadn't been part of the plan but we'd survived everything and seen them arrested personally, even Maura and Natalie had been part of the arrest team, making sure those six corrupt cops would stand trial before going to jail for the rest of their miserable lives.

Mind you, that was far too morbid a set of thoughts for a glorious afternoon like this, something I pointed out.

"You sure we have to do this Maur? Surely there's something else we could be doing on a fantastic afternoon that'd be a lot more fun" Naturally she quickly shot that idea down.

"Jane, we need to make some progress on our wedding plans, and your ensembles are a key part of that. I simply cannot progress my wedding dress and the bridesmaid's dresses without knowing what Olivia, Anastasia and yourself will be wearing" I tipped my head to regard her.

"I thought that was what all those Skype sessions with Nat and Alex were all about?" She waved a finger at me cheekily.

"That is simply agreeing on overall styles Jane, to make an truly informed decision we need to know the style, cut and colours of the suits you and your grooms women will be wearing" I smiled a little.

"I'm sure Liv and Ana will look fine in whatever you end up choosing" She frowned prettily even as she replied.

"The decision is a joint one Jane; we must both be satisfied with the final choice" I shrugged, explaining the truth as I saw it.

"It's your decision really, if it was up to me I'd probably choose the first thing that looked half-way decent and be done with it" I saw that hit home, she was scandalised, in a very restrained, Maura-like manner.

"Jane! That is most definitely not the attitude" she admonished me. "After all, as you have so often put it, we are only going to do this once so it must be done right" I nodded, a little chagrined.

"Yeah baby, I know, it's just I'm just a little out of my depth here, this isn't my thing y'know" She nodded as a soft smile appeared, laying a hand on mine.

"I do darling and I appreciate that you have been, for you, very patient today" I nodded, happy to have put a smile there before turning back to the subject at hand.

"If I have to wear something at the neck, I kinda like the idea of a cravat" She tipped her head to regard me, obviously considering the image.

"Yes, I can see that would work; not only is it less constricting, it does look very stylish" I shrugged.

"I like it because it means I don't have to wear a tie, god knows how guys do it?" Maura's smile widened.

"If it was to be a necktie, tradition suggests that a bow tie would be more appropriate for a wedding" I shook my head definitively.

"Those things are a pain in the ass to tie" Last time I'd worn one, back at the Mayor's Ball in New York, Maura had ended up being the one tying it; I sure as hell didn't have a clue. God knows how she knew how to but then this is Maura we're talking about; nothing really surprises me anymore about that encyclopaedia inside her head. The woman in question tipped her head to regard me as she replied.

"I could just teach you Jane, it really is not that hard" I shook my head at that.

"Nope, happy to pass on that" Maura nodded once as she accepted my statement and spoke.

"I agree that a cravat would be a more than acceptable substitute" I decided to turn the conversation on her for a moment.

"So what are you wearing?" She gave me a small, one-shouldered shrug before answering.

"I have not yet determined, something appropriate, white is most likely but we are still considering options" By 'we' Maura meant her, Natalie Dearing and Alex Cabot, our best friends. They'd been talking about styles and trains and beading and all sorts of other stuff for ages, they Skyped back and forth all the time, I'd even got yelled at for walking past a couple of times and daring to look towards the laptop screen.

"I'm sure you're gonna look great in whatever dress you wear" I got a sly look and a cheeky smile.

"I was referring to the bridal lingerie, tradition suggests white, ivory or cream is appropriate" I opened my mouth to say something then paused as my mind raced off on its own wicked tangent, lots of images of Maura in white, sexy lingerie laid out across our bed; naughty, naughty, deliciously naughty mind.

Maura's smile widened, she knew exactly where I'd gone with that and obviously approved. I took in the slightly satisfied expression and decided to tease her.

"I know I'm not supposed to see the dress, tradition and all, but the lingerie, that's different" One perfect eyebrow got raised slightly disbelievingly.

"Oh really?" I nodded, hopefully kinda convincingly and tried for confidence in my voice, after all I was suddenly really motivated.

"Yeah, how about we finish up here and head off to some of those top end lingerie stores you and Nat and Alex like so much and we can pick out a few for you to model for me tonight" Maura considered it for a moment before her smile got all wickedly sexy all at once.

"On one condition" I nodded, happy to do anything she asked if it involved Maura and lingerie.

"Sure, what is it?" She leaned forward, a trifle conspiratorially and lowered her voice.

"We also select several sets of my choice for you, after all I am not aware of any rule that states the groom cannot also wear lingerie and I too would appreciate a show" I nodded eagerly, more than happy to say yes.

"Deal" We smiled happily across the table before she leaned even further in, her voice low and sultry, doing naughty things to my self-control, I associated that voice with all sorts of carnal pleasures; I wasn't disappointed.

"Nothing says that we would have to wait until tonight, after all we have the rest of the afternoon free" Her eyes ran over me suggestively as she continued. "After all, you did suggest there were other things we could be doing this afternoon"

I'm sure my smile turned slightly feral as I raised my arm and my voice, never taking my eyes from hers, seeing the wicked amusement dancing there.

"Check please"


	2. Chapter 2

I'd like to acknowledge the wonderful work of the actors, the writers and the directors of the wonderful source material from which I can draw. Without them I'd have so much less to work with. Naturally all rights reside with the creators but I'd like to express my thanks for letting me play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **02 Passing** **the Shield** **Part 1**

Brenda's viewpoint

The place was in turmoil, I'd had busier weeks in the job but I couldn't remember any this busy any time recently.

Sharon's appointment to take over as Commander of the gutted Robbery / Homicide team and rebuild it from the ground up after that whole fiasco; what with six members of their team being on the Cartel's payroll and all, meant that she was busy getting across all of that section's cases and dealing with personnel issues.

We'd agreed with Chief Pope that the entire remaining Robbery / Homicide team should be disbanded and farmed out to other areas, meaning they'd have a chance to prove they were still decent, competent detectives, just someplace else far away from Robbery / Homicide. Instead Sharon was recruiting people from across the LAPD to fill out her new team. It had also been agreed that several people from both our teams were overdue for promotion and we'd taken the opportunity to look at shifting several of them into her new squad.

It was the right decision for lots of reasons but it sure made for a lot of paperwork.

Dealing with the handover of cases, files, personnel issues and ongoing work and making sure that nothing fell through the cracks; Sharon and I were beyond busy, plus we were working together to mentor members of our squads for their promotion exams and all that was in addition to interviewing new people applying for the positions that were about to open in Major Crimes, FID and Robbery Homicide.

I was going to lose Julio Sanchez and David Gabriel from Major Crimes to Robbery / Homicide, Lieutenant Tao was also moving on to a Captain's role with the SIS team and with Jane Rizzoli stepping up to Sergeant I was down a Lieutenant and two detectives. There'd been plenty of applicants for both my team and Sharon's old and new ones, but sorting through and weeding out those who weren't going to fit or didn't have the right skills or mind-set was a huge pain in the neck.

For Sharon and I it meant 'us' time was at a premium so we'd scheduled dinner out tonight, just a little hole in the wall place that served divine north-Indian food, I was so looking forward to it, sharing good food, better wine and lots of just being together.

That was in the distant future of after work though, right now I was sitting in the Major Crimes conference room with Michael Tao, David Gabriel, Jane Rizzoli and Julio Sanchez from my team plus Force Investigation's Lieutenant Kevin Elliot and Detective Lucy Kwang, walking them through sections of their upcoming exams, knowing they would do well but not wanting to leave anything to chance.

Really, they'd do fine, they were all well overdue for promotion and both Sharon and I had no doubts whatsoever that they'd pass with flying colours but we wanted to be absolutely sure. Finally, after over an hour of plying them with questions, I stood back against the wall and smiled.

"Honestly people, I don't know what we're worried about, each of you knows everything there is to know about the job, it's just a matter of getting that down on paper and responding to the interview panel, I know you'll be fine" They sat back and smiled cautiously in return, before David looked round the others then spoke.

"Chief, if we do well it'll be because of you and Commander Raydor. Between your experience and her knowledge of the rules and regulations, I don't think we could be better prepared" Julio nodded.

"Yeah, I thought I knew about the regs, but now..." I smiled as I replied.

"The Commander is nothing if not extremely thorough" That got a smile from the boys and Detective Kwang and an entirely all-too-knowing smirk from Jane which I tried to ignore; dreadful woman.

"Anyway, you each have tomorrow off for final study before you front the panel on Wednesday, so brush up on the areas we've noted. That's Media Relations Policy for you Lieutenant Tao, if you have any questions I know Miss Dearing would be more than happy to help" He nodded and I moved on. "Lieutenant Elliot; inter-service protocol for you, evidentiary chains of custody for you Sergeant Gabriel, IT policies Detective Kwang and detectives? I know it's a pain, but HR regulations and policies for you both" They all nodded, I knew they would do well.

"Anyway, that's enough for now; you might as well get some lunch and as long as you don't get a case, spend this afternoon doing some extra study, okay?" I got nods and thanks from them all as I smiled at them. As they started to get up, I asked Julio and David to wait as I wanted a word. The others headed out, closing the door behind them at my request.

"I'm very proud of you both, your promotions will be well deserved" They both looked embarrassed. David was the first to speak.

"Thanks Chief, I think we'll do ok" I waved a finger at them playfully.

"I'll be very disappointed if you do just ok and so will Commander Raydor, so we expect better than that" They nodded and Julio smiled.

"Message received loud and clear Chief" I smiled back, they were both wonderful people and I was going to miss them terribly, they'd been with me for more than seven years, through thick and thin, the good times and the bad.

"I expect that we'll be toasting your results in O'Malley's come Friday night, y'hear?" They both nodded as David spoke for them both.

"Understood Chief" I paused for a moment, but now was the best time, really I needed to grasp the nettle, an expression I'd read in some book once.

"There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, something really important" Picking up my change in tone they both focussed on me, Julio just beating David.

"What's up Chief?"

"Sure Chief" I smiled as I spoke.

"I'm aware both of you have worked hard over the years to keep me safe, given all the things that have happened over the years. I wanted you to know I both understood and appreciated that" They both suddenly found the floor pattern fascinatingly interesting as I pushed on. "I want you to know that I have always felt safe and protected when you were there with me, I just knew that nothing would happen to me when I was with either of you" I found the words hard to get out through a suddenly thick throat, remembering all they'd done for me over the years. I cleared my throat, the noise louder than I'd like in the quiet room. "I wanted you both to know how much I've appreciated everything you've done and how truly grateful I am"

They glanced at each other, each obviously wanting the other to speak. Finally Julio spoke up.

"Chief's it's been an honour" David nodded.

"And our privilege" I looked them both in the eye.

"I needed you to understand how much it meant to me, like I said, when you were there, I felt safe, protected. Over the years I've never had the chance to properly thank either of you for that, so I'm saying it now. Thank you, thank you so very, very much" They both nodded, a little embarrassed by the praise as I moved onto the next, related subject.

"I also have a favour to ask of you, you've both given me so much that I don't feel I have any right to ask, but I have to" They both stood a fraction straighter as they spoke, almost as one, David a fraction faster.

"Whatever you need Chief"

"Just ask Chief" I nodded, having to swallow a lump, these boys... Finally I was able to speak.

"You've given me so much, your loyalty, which means a lot to me" I looked at David.

"Your trust, which means even more to me" I turned to look at Julio.

"But most of all your friendship which I cherish. Now I'm giving you something, the thing that's the most important, most precious thing I have, Sharon. I know we haven't been together all that long, but I've never been this happy, this content ever" I stared at them both, feeling nervous as heck, but I had to continue. "Please, Julio, David, please take care of Sharon for me, please look after her the way you have me and I'll rest easy, knowing she'll be as safe as she ever could be"

I could see the look they shared as they both nodded, then looked at me, determination easily seen in their eyes as David spoke.

"You got it Chief" Julio was equally adamant.

"We've got this Chief, our word" I bit back a few tears as I went to speak but couldn't get the words out, instead I stepped up and wrapped my arms around Julio, then David, hugging them each in turn hard, trying to convey everything I couldn't say in words. Finally I stepped back, to see them both blushing furiously.

"Thank you so much, it means everything to me" They both just nodded. Needing to break the tension a bit I smiled. "Now you have exams to study for and I want you to ace them, so get on and study, Commander Raydor and I want to be the ones buying the drinks on Friday night at O'Malley's, so don't let us down, the rest of the team is counting on it"

They both nodded, not saying much as they walked out, but I knew that Sharon would be as safe as she possibly could be, I couldn't ask for more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **03 The Penny Drops**

Natalie's viewpoint

We'd taken over the Major Crimes conference room to hear what Ana had to say. She'd been privy to the transcripts of Hernandez' interrogation by the Bureau and had finally got permission from the Feds to pass on the information he'd had about the Robbery / Homicide detectives that had been on the Cartel's payroll, or as the media had conveniently dubbed them, the 'WitSec killers', based on their killing of seven people in the Federal Government's Witness Protection program out here in LA. It was about time; after all it wasn't as if they'd been trying to kill us or anything.

Ana had been absolutely no help whatsoever, despite being the FBI liaison to the LAPD and across all of it; I mean she'd been really cagy about it too, nothing I'd done had been able to dig anything out from her, not even my most 'generous' offers of sexy favors' had worked, plus she'd laughed in my face when I'd threatened to withhold sex before she'd crossed her arms, leaned in the doorway and smiled at me.

"Blondie, there is absolutely no way you could hang out longer than me, and you know it too" She was right too damn her, instead I'd sat on the bed and pouted like a child until she'd taken pity on me and wandered over, stripping off, dropping clothes behind her as she promised to make me forget all about it, which she had, several times in fact.

Now though she could finally let us know and given we'd all been involved, Brenda had asked Maura, Sharon and I to join her and Jane, together with Andrea and Mikki there were seven of us waiting on Ana. She finished connecting up her laptop to the projector, getting her desktop to appear on the screen and nodded, glancing my way and smiling before looking to the other end of the table and speaking up.

"All good to go Brenda" She got a nod from Brenda.

"Then let's hear it please" Ana nodded and opened a PowerPoint presentation, the first slide of which was titled simply 'Sinaloa - LAPD Case' above the watermarked FBI logo. Ana didn't mince words, but then she never did.

"The top line results from the Hernandez interrogations are nothing short of terrible. In total, Kennedy and his co-conspirators were responsible for the deaths of thirty seven people that the Cartel is pretty much certain of"

There was stunned silence around the room, faces had gone white, I sure as hell knew mine was one of them; we'd never dreamed it was this bad. People were looking at each other in stunned disbelief; even Brenda and Sharon, the most experienced in the room were as gob-smacked as the rest of us. It was Jane who finally broke the silence.

"That's pretty damned terrifying; I thought we were only dealing with the seven WitSec victims plus the kidnapping case and a couple of others, who were the rest?" Ana sighed softly then started explaining.

"Basically anyone that Sinaloa wanted dead here in Los Angeles, representatives of other cartel's, members of gangs working for those other cartel's, criminals who for one reason or other Sinaloa wanted gone, if they were here in LA and in the way, they were killed by Kennedy and the others" She ran her hand through her jet-black hair and continued.

"The biggest issue is that we're not actually sure who did which job. We can be certain of the first few, the ones Kennedy did at the start before he recruited Powell plus there are the OIS shootings that we can definitively tie to money changing hands" She shrugged expressively. "But as for the rest well...unless we can get Kennedy to talk, we won't be able to tie specific crimes to specific people" Sharon leaned forward slightly, catching Ana's eye.

"I take it Kennedy isn't interested in a deal?" she said as others nodded, it was a good question. Unfortunately Ana shook her head as she explained.

"No, I've been told he isn't talking and Osmond doesn't know enough to make the connections we need" Sharon chewed her lip and looked over at Andrea Hobbs, our assigned Deputy District Attorney who grimaced before looking back at the rest of us and commenting; she'd been the DDA assigned to talk to Kennedy and the rest in the lead up to the trial.

"Kennedy's thinking if they all keep their mouth shut they can all get off of this, he doesn't know that Hernandez has given him up, they won't know that until we get to disclosure, which couldn't happen until after the Bureau released this" She gestured towards the screen. "This may change some of their minds" she finished. Brenda nodded and took up the discussion.

"The way this is looking is that we can tie Kennedy to some killings, Powell as well, DiMarco to one, Osmond and Farrar to the kidnappings as neither of them were trusted to do the killings but Humphries might skip out on any she was responsible for, well except for those two women she killed right at the end" Jane frowned at the screen darkly.

"We know she was involved, the amount of money she was spending was well above what she was earning" Sharon nodded then looked at Ana, directing the question to her.

"Yes, but we can't actually tie her to any other killings can we, unless your witness knew something?" Unfortunately Ana shook her head.

"Nope, afraid not, his dealings were exclusively with Kennedy, that was at Kennedy's insistence; probably afraid that one of the others might try cutting deals directly with Sinaloa, not a whole lot of trust there obviously" She shrugged. "Hernandez did meet Osmond and Farrar that one time when they delivered Adoria Moreno to him"

"Joder!" ***** It was Mikki Mendoza, Andrea's partner and one of Brenda's latest additions to her Major Crimes squad. "You mean Humphries might walk?" Brenda shook her head decisively.

"No, we have her for the two murders, plus the ambush attempt on us by the Barrio Bangers, we can directly tie her to that, plus we may still be able to link her to the attempts on Maura, Sharon and I by the Lobos" Mikki frowned darkly.

"That's only conspiracy to murder, that perra ***** needs to go down, for all her murders, not just some" I saw Jane nod once, as did Andrea as Sharon spoke up.

"How much was the Cartel paying them for this?" Ana shook her head slowly.

"That's the thing, in the scheme of things they were getting nothing. The going rate was thirty thousand a killing" There was shock around the table; Maura was quickest, surprise as evident in her face as in her voice.

"That is barely a million dollars in total, in my opinion that hardly seems like adequate recompense for the risks they were taking" Sharon nodded.

"It's particularly depressing to think a life, any lives, are worth so little, especially given they'd turned it into a habit" Andrea frowned and directed her words to Ana.

"So basically they averaged six killings each" she said. "…and made less than two hundred thousand each?" Ana rocked her hand in a 'so-so' gesture.

"The numbers are a bit skewed. Ormond and Farrar did odd jobs that paid a lot less, with the exception of the kidnapping of Adoria Moreno and another person we didn't know about before. Also it appears that Kennedy may have been withholding an amount; call it a management fee for lack of a better term; after all we know he was giving his sister ten thousand for each person she steered him towards while being paid thirty by the cartel. No reason to think he wasn't doing the same for everyone else" Brenda nodded as she spoke.

"Plus we know he was arranging for Humphries to be paid in cocaine as well as money" There were nods around the table at that; Humphries place had been riddled with high-quality cocaine residue.

"Yeah, I wonder how well she's taking coming off that" It was Jane, taking just a little too much malicious joy about it, she'd taken the fact that another female homicide cop was not only a murderer but also an addict almost as a personal affront; she smiled a little cruelly. "Not well I suspect" Andrea leaned forward.

"I can vouch for that, she didn't come down too well once her supply was cut off, she ended up in the prison hospital, restrained for her own safety and more importantly, the safety of others" Andrea looked round the table. "She's back in isolation after she viciously maimed another prisoner in the hospital when they verbally provoked her" Andrea shrugged eloquently. "The prison governor said it was for her protection, but it's as much for the others as well" Brenda nodded.

"Good, I'm looking forward to seeing her on the stand while you cross-examine her, I don't want her getting murdered in a prison fight before that happens" Maura looked across the table at Andrea and spoke.

"Are the other prisoners in a similar situation?" Andrea shook her head as she answered.

"No, as charged police officers, they're in solitary for their own protection as a matter of policy" She shrugged. "None of them were in the prison hospital because they weren't addicts" I looked over at Andrea and spoke up.

"So when's the trial?" She made a 'who knows' gesture with her hands.

"Probably still several months away. Like I said, we still have Disclosure and that's when Kennedy and the others find out Hernandez has given them up" She shrugged. "I hope that's enough to get some of them to roll over in hopes of getting leniency, but that assumes they don't listen to their defence attorney" I raised my eyebrow at that, I wasn't the only one, though I asked the question.

"Why, what's the story there?" Andrea's face bore a sour expression as she replied.

"Conrad Peterson, arrogant bastard extraordinaire, he thinks he's god's gift to the courtroom, he also thinks he's a great lawyer but in fact he's mostly a sleazy scumbag who made his name defending celebrities from sexual assault suits, mostly by smearing the women as sluts" The looks around the table made it very clear what we all thought about that as Andrea continued. "He handles the more usual criminal cases to make ends meet, god knows how Kennedy found out about him let alone retained him but he's a dirty smear merchant"

"The evidence is quite conclusive really" It was Maura. "Surely Mister Peterson will realise that when he gets to the Disclosure process and sees the evidence against his clients?" Andrea pulled a face for a moment then replied.

"You'd like to hope so but he's probably going to hang in there, if only for the publicity"

"Publicity?" It was Jane. "What good's gonna come to his rep from losing?" Andrea shrugged eloquently.

"The case is going to attract vast coverage, the combination of crooked cops, a drug cartel, the coverage of that ambush on the streets of Los Angeles and all of your involvement is going to be blood in the water to the media" I nodded, I may not know all that much about court cases but the media on the other hand; they were my turf.

"Definitely, almost every major media outlet will cover the trial start as a news item and anything sensational that comes out during it, which means lots of it" I saw grimaces around the table as I continued. "I'm sure the local LA media and some of the nationals will have reporters in the court each day, hanging out for the sensational bits" I shrugged. "Some of the networks, in particular the cable networks, might petition the court to allow them camera access for live coverage, there's certainly both precedent and interest in the case"

"You're joking" It was Brenda. I shook my head, delivering the bad news.

"Cartel assassins, crooked cops, six beautiful women targeted and who took them down, it's going to be a circus I'm afraid"

"Marvelous" It was Jane, disgust in every syllable. I could see similar expressions in everyone's face as Maura nodded and spoke up.

"Perhaps the Judge will disallow the media"

"We can hope" It was Sharon. Andrea however shook her head and nodded my way.

"Nat's right, I'm pretty sure the media's going to be all over this one" I smiled, a little ruefully.

"Yep, we're in the home of the OJ Simpson trial and Michael Jackson's inquest, media get away with stuff here that wouldn't get a look in somewhere else" I shrugged then continued. "The judge might not like it but given the media's power in LA, he'll probably be overruled by his bosses" I pulled a face. "They have to be reelected and don't want the media against them during the campaign; plus the media have long memories"

"How much coverage are we looking at?" It was Brenda. I shrugged before responding.

"That will depend on the case and what comes out. I expect that there will be a pool arrangement for the cameras, feeding out to anyone who might want it, including the local affiliates of the major networks" I chewed my lip for a moment then pressed on. "It means that if something out of the ordinary happens then the major networks can have it going national in seconds, particularly the news stations like Fox and CNN"

"Wonderful" It was Sharon as she traded a look with Brenda that spoke volumes. They exchanged a nod before Brenda looked over at Ana who had been standing there quietly.

"What else do we need to know Agent Romanov?" Ana smiled, tapping the laptop key to bring up a new slide and turning slightly to direct our attention to it as she replied.

"Plenty Chief; this slide covers the timeline we've been able to put together on our suspect's activities for Sinaloa, as you can see it began over two years ago when Kennedy first travelled down to Mexico trying to make contact with the cartel" Jane shook her head as she spoke up.

"Hate to say it but that was a ballsy move, a cop walking into the heart of Sinaloa turf" Ana nodded as she replied.

"It was, if he'd been unlucky the Cartel would have killed him out of hand, unfortunately for us they were willing to hear him out and give him a chance to prove himself"

"Shame they didn't kill him" It was Mikki. "It would have made our job easier" Maura nodded slowly as she spoke.

"Whilst I am reluctant to agree with the premise that the murder of any individual is a positive development it would have resulted in at least thirty seven people still being alive today" Brenda nodded and dragged us back on track.

"So he cut a deal with the cartel, what was it?" Ana nodded and launched into her explanation.

"Basically they wanted to make sure he wasn't a plant so they tasked him with the murder of a former member of another cartel, now retired and living in LA"…"

Three hours later and we sat there more than a little stunned; Kennedy and the other five cops from Robbery / Homicide had carried out a nasty campaign of murders and assassinations for over two years right under the nose of the LAPD and the other criminal organisations that had provided most of their victims. I was already anticipating the media enquiries that were going to follow that evidence coming to light, something I pointed out.

"The local media's going to have a field day with this" There were rueful nods at that as I continued. "Pope is going to have an aneurism"

"With any luck" It was Sharon, delivered with a wintery smile it drew chuckles from around the table, Chief William Pope was the head of the LAPD and an irritant we'd all had to come to terms with.

Bureaucratic, pig-headed, opinionated and gun-shy of the media, he was a pain in the ass, add the fact that he was interested in both Sharon and Brenda; had previous history with Brenda in fact, and hadn't taken news of their relationship at all well and you had a man we tolerated at best. Brenda smiled and stretched, it was after six and we'd been here for hours, plus it was a Friday night before a busy weekend.

"I suppose that wraps everything up for now and I don't want to keep you back, I know several of you all are heading off for the weekend"

I nodded, we were heading back to the family farm in Cheyenne on the first flight to Denver tomorrow, the only downside was Sharon and Brenda couldn't come too but they were planning on working over the weekend on paperwork and personnel issues.

"That we are" It was Ana. "I know you can't but it's a real shame you can't come" They both nodded before Sharon spoke up.

"We would have loved to but between the work we both still have plus the fact that Pope wouldn't sign off on us both being out of town at the same time in addition to most of you, meant not this time"

I nodded sadly, seeing both Ana and Maura doing the same as I spoke.

"Let's hope you can come next time" Brenda's mouth made a little annoyed moue before she replied.

"Given its Pope we're talking about, he's likely to be all kinds of an ass about it"

"Kinda sums up Pope really" It was Jane. "An ass that is" Her comment drew laughter around the table as we stood.

"We'd love to come, just not this time" Sharon said as Brenda chimed in.

"Please give our apologies to your parents an all, just tell them that unfortunately our work got in the way" I exchanged a glance with Ana and she smiled, a trifle ruefully before answering.

"Don't worry, that's an explanation they'll both understand"

Translation

Joder = Fuck!

Perra = Bitch


	4. Chapter 4

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **04 Home on the range**

Maura's viewpoint

The early morning was quiet, the house silent, if anyone was up they were being very discreet about it. I stretched a little, working a little muscle soreness out, Jane and I had headed to bed a little earlier than expected, but hadn't fallen asleep until almost an hour later, we'd had much better things to do, the pleasant memory of which brought a smile to my face.

As my arms stretched out above the covers I realised just how chilly it was, the air was quite cold, kept at bay by the cosy warmth of the goose-down cover we were snuggled under. Pulling them back under, I snuggled a little further under the covers till just my eyes were peeking out above the warmth as I took in our room in the dawn's ethereal light.

The house was a traditional wooden one, almost a century old, not ostentatious but constructed with an eye for practicality and built to last, the joinery was excellent, no drafts to drive the temperature even lower than it already was, the small cast-iron pot-belly heater in the corner giving an indication of the severity of Wyoming's winters, fortunately we were nowhere near the worst of that.

As I cast my eyes around the room, warm in shades of a pale burnt orange, I saw the little touches that showed this was a well-lived in home, little mementos and school trophies on one shelf, a series of photo's showing Natalie and her sister Lauren at sport, graduating, dressed for a junior prom, in cheerleader uniforms, all signs that this house was home to a loving family.

Noting the room was lightening, I turned onto my side and snuggled up to Jane's back, carefully sliding my arm over her waist and pulling her back into me till we were in contact from neck to knee, enjoying the warmth radiating from her. Resting my head on the pillow I looked past the piled mane of dark hair in front of me to watch the rising sun's rays illuminate the rolling hills of the Dearing family farm.

The slowly spinning blades of a series of wind turbines in the far distance caught my eye, each blade lightening and darkening in turn as it slowly spun, catching the dawn's sunlight, a gently hypnotic light show that I idly stared at for several minutes as my mind wandered.

This weekend had been unplanned, we'd intended to make the most of our weekend off the call out roster with Alex and Liv joining us, but earlier in the week Alex had rung to tell us that Liv was deep in a complex case involving a paedophile prostitution ring and they wouldn't be able to join us. We'd been disappointed but also understood all too well these things happened, it was after all one of the perils of being involved with a police officer, let alone one in the NYPD's most successful Special Victim's Unit.

As an alternative, Natalie and Anastasia had invited us to come and visit their family with them; they hadn't been there since Christmas and tried to get back for a weekend several times a year. Following a quick phone call, it had been agreed, Natalie telling us that their parents had been eager to actually meet the people they'd heard so much about, apparently they'd heard no end of good things about us and were looking forward to meeting us both in person. We'd made the flight bookings and were all set to leave when Natalie's parents rang to let her know that her sister Lauren had been speaking to her mom and had immediately made plans to fly home as well.

We'd been met at Denver airport by Peter and Christie, both in their late fifties; tanned and tall and blonde with blue eyes, you could immediately tell where Natalie's looks had come from. Christie was lovely; she'd obviously been striking when she had been younger and was still attractive now while Peter was a handsome man even as he'd aged. He'd smiled happily, exchanging handshakes and kisses on the cheeks with Jane and I before pulling first Anastasia and then Natalie into crushing hugs, hugs which were happily and eagerly returned. Christie meanwhile had pulled first Jane, then I into her arms, wrapping us in a feeling of warm comfort, before stepping back and smiling widely, telling us both how happy she was to finally meet us.

Not long afterwards Natalie and I were on our way in Christie's SUV to their home north of the Colorado – Wyoming border, Peter having stayed behind to collect Lauren when her flight landed in a few hours. We'd objected to leaving him alone but he'd simply smiled and told us he had some shopping to do here in Denver at some of the shops they didn't have in Cheyenne and he'd be fine. In the end though Jane and Ana had insisted they accompany him, especially when they found out he was looking at getting a new barrel for his hunting rifle from a local gunsmith then sighting it in at a local range.

The drive across the state border was over an hour however the time just flew, chatting to Christie was like talking to Natalie, she was happy and enthusiastic and lovely, wanting to know all about what we'd been up to, what our lives were like, how Los Angeles compared to Boston. I allowed Natalie to set the pace, not exactly sure that Christie knew all of the bad things we were exposed to, it quickly became obvious however that there were no secrets between them. Guessing what I was thinking, at one point she'd thrown a glance across at me and smiled.

"Maura, I don't care what my kids get up to, as long as they come home safe and sound" I nodded, quietly contrasting her easy acceptance with Angela's loud protests against her children's careers. Christie gave a short laugh before she continued. "Besides, between Google and social media, it'd be hard to keep things quiet, you've all made the news more than once, for all sorts of reasons" I looked across in surprise, to see her looking back with a grin. "Not to mention the whole 'fashionista medical examiner' stuff" I rolled my eyes at that reminder.

"I have asked Natalie to see if she could possibly put a stop to that regrettable gossip, unfortunately Natalie, while good at her job, is unfortunately not omnipotent" That garnered a smile from Christie and a rueful chuckle from Natalie.

"Just don't tell her that dear one, Natalie likes to cling to her illusions"

"Hey!"

We'd arrived at the Dearing property to find it studded with wind turbines, something that apparently was more and more common in parts of the American heartland. The house itself was larger than I'd imagined, apparently it had been built in the age when families were significantly larger than today, it actually had six separate bedrooms, with one converted to an office and another into an extensive library. Wandering through it felt like a home, one I was immediately comfortable in.

After a quick tour Natalie had excused herself, she had not seen Smoke, her grey mare, since Christmas and she wanted a little private time with her to reconnect, leaving Christie and I to chat in her kitchen over a cup of tea.

"May I see your ring please?" I smiled and held my hand out, Christie looking it over closely with a lovely, slightly wistful smile. "Beautiful, it really is. Jane has good taste" She glanced up and her smile widened. "Not just in rings" I looked down for a moment, not wishing to let the impact of her words show, before settling back against the bench top to answer her, mimicking Christie's pose as she sipped her tea.

"Thank you, though I understand that Anastasia had assisted Jane in her selection of it. I love both the ring and the sentiment behind this particular one"

"Were you expecting Jane's proposal?" I shook my head, remembering that night as clearly as if it was yesterday.

"While we had of course discussed marriage, I had no idea Jane was planning anything special, it was a complete surprise but a very welcome one" Christie nodded slowly, hands wrapped around her mug. I tilted my head as I glanced at her and continued. "No doubt you were pleased with their recent engagement and are looking forward to Natalie and Anastasia's marriage?" She looked up and smiled happily.

"Peter and I give our girls a little grief from time to time about when their going to make honest women of each other, but seriously though, they don't need a piece of paper telling the world they're married, those two are as close as any couple could be, a certificate and a ceremony isn't going to change that" I nodded gently.

"I understand that, although many feel the symbolism is important" Christie nodded and spoke.

"Yep, and for many people it is, but you're their friend Maura, do you think it'll change them?" I shook my head at the thought; Natalie and Anastasia were a perfectly matched set.

"Of course not, they share an unbreakable bond" Christie frowned for a moment, then looked at me speculatively, before nodding once to herself, as if she had come to a decision.

"Normally I'd say you're right, in all their time together I've only seen one thing test that bond" I felt my eyebrows lift in shock. Natalie and Anastasia were as inseparable as any couple I had ever seen, each devoted to the other, the thought that something had tested that closeness was more than a little unsettling.

"I am surprised to hear that anything could strain their relationship, I cannot imagine another person intruding into what they have"

"I would have agreed, but one person did" Christie tilted her head at me. "Lauren" I felt my mouth drop open in surprise, her sister? Composing myself I asked.

"Lauren, surely not?" Christie's smile was a small one as she recalled what had happened.

"Yes, she didn't react all that well to what was happening between Nat and Ana" I frowned. Given the love clearly evident between them both, plus the obvious warmth and affection both showed when talking about Lauren, it seemed very unlikely, unless...

"Lauren did not approve of them being together?" Christie bobbed her head.

"In a way, it wasn't that she disapproved, more that she was jealous" I thought about that then replied carefully, questioningly.

"Oh?" Christie just lifted an eyebrow at me, sipped her tea then continued.

"Maura, Natalie and Lauren have always been very close, despite being two years apart. They hung round together all through school, looked out for each other, supported each other in everything" I nodded, based on all I had heard of their interactions as adult's I could imagine them as children. "The test came when Nat brought Ana home" I nodded, understanding where Christie was going.

"It caused a rift in their closeness" Christie's head tilted in agreement.

"Yes, Lauren suddenly went from the most important person in Nat's life to number two; Nat had someone new who was the center of her life and Lauren didn't handle that all that well" I nodded slowly.

"Lauren was jealous that she no longer held primacy in Natalie's life and affection?" Christie pulled a face in thought.

"Some of it was that, no doubt about it. Partly she was jealous of Ana for taking up all of Nat's attention, partly she was jealous of Nat for having Ana" I saw Christie was watching me as she spoke. "They had always had each other, for company, for support and for having each other's back since they were kids. Then not only does Nat suddenly have someone else, it's someone Lauren realises is everything that Natalie's ever hoped and dreamed of" I nodded as realisation grew.

"Who just happens to embody all of Lauren's hopes and dreams as well?" Christie smiled in happy agreement.

"Exactly right, we went through a period where Lauren hated Ana for supplanting her as number one in Nat's affections and hated Nat for having Ana" I pulled a small face as I spoke.

"That would be awkward, to put it mildly" Christie chuckled gently, obviously recollecting the past.

"That's an understatement" I smiled, now that it was in the past it would be interesting to hear of its resolution.

"So how was the situation resolved?" She looked across at me and smiled softly.

"Nat, Ana and Lauren were all up here one Easter and things had got tense between Nat and Lauren, no overt anger, just really frosty, with Ana playing peacemaker all Good Friday; I don't know who decided enough was enough but first thing Saturday morning they all saddled up horses, packed some food and camping gear and rode off. They told me not to worry; they just had to sort some things out. I didn't see them again until late Monday night; I was almost at the point of calling in the Sheriff's people to go look for them when they rode in, happy as anything, like there'd never been any issues. Ever since then all three have been as close as Nat and Lauren had been growing up" I frowned as I thought about it then spoke.

"Do you know what transpired?" Christie shrugged gently before replying.

"I've asked; asked each of them in fact. Ana said they'd talked it all out like civilised adults, Lauren told me they'd had an hours-long screaming match out where no one could hear them, until they got it all out of their system" She shrugged. "Nat just laughed, saying they'd kissed and made up" I nodded slowly.

"What do you believe Christie?" She smiled fondly.

"I think that my daughters had an overgrown spat and thrashed it out one way or the other, and came out of it a bit more grown up" I nodded slowly.

"In that case a desirable outcome"

"I'd say so" She looked over at me and smiled quietly. "Tell me about your parents Maura" I paused for a moment, surprised by the change in subject, then realised there was a good chance Christie already knew.

"My adoptive parents are Constance and Richard Isles, Constance is an avant-garde artist of some renown within her field while Richard is a respected paleontologist, he presides over archaeological excavations around the globe" Christie nodded slowly.

"I understand you don't see them very often" she said, drawing a nod from me.

"Not as much as I would prefer" I was willing to leave it at that when I saw Christie regarding me with a mixture of interest and compassion. I shrugged, downplaying my next statement. "They both travel extensively"

"And don't necessarily approve of your relationship with Jane" I looked up at her but she simply smiled guilelessly. "I talk to both Nat and Ana regularly, both were outraged on your behalf when they learnt of it and it came out during our chats" I looked down for a moment, embarrassed, only to see Christie's boot-clad feet walk into my field of view.

"Maura?" Her voice was soft. "Maura, look at me please" I looked up to see her crouching down in front of me as her hand came up to rest on my knee. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad, it's just that Ana and Nat care for you, a lot" I nodded, my voice soft.

"They are my friends, wonderful friends"

"Maura, both came from loving families so your estrangement hurts them deeply, they want you to be happy" I shook my head gently.

"I am happy, Jane makes me happy, my friends make me happy, Anastasia and Natalie, Alexandra and Olivia in New York, Sharon and Brenda in Los Angeles, Jane's family; they are the most important people in my life"

"I understand that, god knows you're the same to my daughters, they can't sing your praises enough" Christie leaned back a bit, giving me some room as she continued. "Why do you think your mother is having issues with your choices?"

"I believe that it is because I am asserting my independence in spite of her wishes, the third of my great acts of rebellion" I saw her eyebrow lift in a question which I was happy to answer. "My choice of career, my decision not to marry the man they believed I should and my decision to love Jane" I shrugged. "It is quite pathetic, here I am an adult woman and I can count the acts of rebellion on one hand" I looked over into her eyes, seeing the warmth and compassion there. "For all of her opprobrium though, I am doing something for me"

"I am sure there is an element of truth in that, I'm also sure she wants what she believes is the best for you, even if you don't see that in the same way" I frowned before replying.

"We most certainly do not. Constance disapproves of my relationship with Jane and refuses to see that it has made me very happy, perhaps for the first time in my life" Christie smiled up at me from where she was kneeling, once again placing her hand on my knee; normally I am more reserved that this with people I barely know, in this case though I felt strangely comforted by her touch as she spoke.

"Your mother is dealing with the realisation that her dreams for your future are not going to eventuate. She expected you to follow one path, but you've chosen another" She shrugged. "It sounds like she's still struggling to come to terms with the fact that her baby daughter's all grown up and making her own decisions" I thought about that for a moment, Constance had always been a dominant factor in my life; I had only gone against her express wishes a few times in my life, most particularly when I refused her desires to be a society wife, instead choosing medical school. That decision had been my first real act of rebellion as an adult. I nodded slowly.

"There may be something to that thought" Christie nodded slowly then spoke.

"Every mother wants the best for their child, daughters especially. We want them to be happy, to be loved, to marry and settle down and have children so they know the joy of being a mother too. Sometimes the images in our head collide with reality, sometimes gently" She paused and grimaced. "Sometimes not" Looking back up at me Christie's grimace was replaced with a happy smile.

"I won't lie to you Maura; I was concerned about seeing Natalie with a woman. It wasn't what I'd anticipated when they came home together that first time" She stood and moved to lean back against the kitchen bench beside me, her hands resting on the bench top behind her. "I'd anticipated seeing her with some man who'd love her, cherish her, protect her and make her happy. A woman wasn't part of that picture, not at all. Over the next few days though, it became obvious that Nat had managed to find her perfect partner, it just happened to be a beautiful woman" I smiled sadly as I spoke.

"I am afraid my mother has not yet made that leap of acceptance" Christie smiled back at me before replying.

"She will; it'll just take some time, but her love for you and desire for you to be happy will overcome her reservations" I glanced up into her blue eyes, so similar to her daughters.

"I certainly hope so" She smiled reassuringly, something that was reflected in both her tone and words.

"I am sure of it, your estrangement from her will be at least as painful for her as it is for you, to be cut off from her daughter" Christie pulled a face. "I couldn't imagine the pain if I was separated from my kids" I felt I had to correct Christie on that point.

"Your relationship with Lauren and Natalie is immeasurably different from the experience Constance and I have" Christie was quick to demur.

"Constance loves you; she just can't reconcile the child that you still are to her with the woman you are now. A mother's love for her child is total, unconditional and never stops" I frowned at her analysis, wondering if it could be that simple, something I put into words.

"What if it was never there to begin with?" Christie shrugged as she replied.

"Trust me, it's there, some find it harder than others to express it" I nodded then spoke.

"That would not appear to be a problem within your family" Christie's laugh was quick and light, making me smile as she spoke.

"Oh god no, us Dearing's are a loud, boisterous lot, hugging each other at the drop of a hat and with no boundaries when it comes to family, never have"

"Lauren and Natalie are very fortunate" She smiled and ducked her head at my comment before continuing.

"In your own way you are too. Your parents have a very smart, very beautiful daughter; they saw that and provided you with the opportunities to excel. You have taken those opportunities and run with them, you're one of the top people in your profession in the country, that's something to be proud of" I tipped my head a trifle dismissively.

"I was brought up to believe that anything less than excellence was a waste of potential" Christie smiled as she replied.

"All I've heard from Nat and Ana tells me that excellence is only a small part of who you are" I found myself smiling at her words, her natural and adopted daughters were both very important to me.

"They are very kind, and very good friends"

"As are you Maura, Constance may have trouble showing it but I am sure she must be very, very proud of you" I shrugged, one shoulder rising and falling before I replied.

"I would like to hope so; I know that my choice of career was not what she envisioned for me" Christie smirked once, briefly before replying.

"Let me guess, society wedding to a man from a socially acceptable family, raising 2.5 children, including an heir to the family fortunes, that sort of thing?' I looked up, surprised at her insight, before realising that given how close she was to Natalie and Anastasia she had probably heard enough to make an educated supposition.

"That is very likely the outcome she had anticipated" I tipped my head to regard her. "Mother is very disillusioned with my choices, in a career, in life and in Jane, something she has made clear on a number of occasions" Now it was Christie's turn to shrug as she replied.

"She's probably still coming to terms with the fact that her dreams and your reality aren't even remotely similar" I frowned, the sentiment coming out in my words.

"I have ever been a grave disappointment to her"

"And I seriously doubt that" Christie's smile was soft and warm. "I may be biased, but I believe I've raised two wonderful kids, both are lovely, smart, confident and beautiful women. Ana is like another daughter to me and she's just like Lauren and Nat" Christie ran her eyes over me and smiled. "Given all that, I would be proud to have you as my daughter too" I was left speechless for a moment, the lump that had suddenly appeared in my throat preventing me from saying anything. Before I could recover Christie nodded once. "You're just like them, smart, giving, loving, beautiful, any mother would be proud to call you their daughter" It took me a moment before I could continue, the raw emotion spilling into my voice.

"Given how wonderful Natalie and Anastasia are, thank you" She sipped her tea quietly, giving me a moment. Finally I brushed my cheeks with the backs of my hands and smiled. "Thank you Christie" She smiled softly, then leaned back against the bench top before speaking softly.

"Maura, perhaps you should look at it from your parent's perspective" She paused. "I don't mean how they are treating you over Jane, but how they treated you overall" I frowned, not understanding what she meant before asking the question.

"What exactly do you mean?" Christie placed the cup down beside her on the bench before turning back to look at me, her eyes soft and gentle, as was her voice.

"I believe that your parents raised you to the best of their abilities but they may not have been adequately prepared to be the loving parents you would have hoped for" She looked over at me and smiled. "Tell me about your grandparents" I paused for a moment, surprised at the sudden change in topic; I don't think anyone had ever asked. Recovering I began mentally sorting through what I knew, snippets overheard growing up, occasional meetings.

"My maternal grandparents died while I was quite young. My grandmother Geraldine passed away from cancer around my fifth birthday while Sebastian died from a stroke while I was away in France at boarding school. I learned of it when Mother told me in one of her regular letters"

"Were you close to them?" I shook my head as I replied.

"No not really, they were very formal in their upbringing and etiquette was very important, they were something of a forbidding presence to me, for example children were to be occasionally seen but definitely not heard in their presence" Christie shook her head at that before commenting.

"Hardly a particularly warm environment to grow up in, nor a great template for your mother's own experience of raising children" I nodded once at her insight.

"Perhaps" Christie's head tilted as she followed up her initial question.

"What about your father's parents?" I closed my eyes for a moment as I recalled the pertinent information; it had been many years since I had heard the details.

"Grandfather Robert was killed in the Korean War; he was killed leading his company in an assault in 1953, just before the armistice, leaving his sister Gretel to raise Richard on her own"

"And your grandmother?" I paused, my grandmother's fate was something rarely spoken of, before continuing, after all Christie did not strike me as someone who would judge.

"My grandmother, Sally-Anne, did not cope very well with her husband's death. She never truly recovered, eventually being institutionalised in the late 1950's for what was then diagnosed as hysteria. Today it would be seen as severe depression, but psychiatry was still in its infancy. To treat her they tried a number of different procedures, eventually culminating in electro-shock therapy, which left her brain dead" The stricken look on Christie's face was unexpected, as was the hug I was suddenly wrapped in.

"My god Maura, I'm so sorry" Her hug may have been unexpected but it was warm and comforting and very welcome; Christie must have held me for some ten or fifteen seconds before stepping back. "I didn't mean to bring up old memories, I'm sorry if I did" I shook my head, eager to dispell her regret.

"I never knew her Christie, it was long before I was born" She nodded slowly. Returning to the conversation to cover my emotions, I continued. "My father was raised by Robert's's older sister, another war widow, in this case from the Second World War. Her own children were much older so she set about raising my father" I paused as I remembered what I could from the few comments my parents had made about Gretel. "Richard never really bonded with Gretel, she provided him a home to live in until he reached eighteen years of age, at which time he received his inheritance, an amount sufficiant to allow him to complete his studies and seek out his own career, which he did"

Christie stood there watching me for a moment, her eyes, so blue like Natalie's, taking me in before she turned and set the kettle on once more. With her back to me she spoke, her words clear in the quiet, sun-dappled kitchen.

"Neither of your parents seem to have had the best parental experiences growing up Maura, it's hardly surprising then that they didn't give you the most warm and supportive home environment to grow up in. It's not that they didn't want to, more they didn't really know how to" I kept my voice low.

"They were always supportive of me, making allowances for my...differences" Christie tossed me a quick glance over her shoulder as she snorted then spoke.

"For being a genius you mean" I shrugged.

"I was a strange child growing up, somewhat withdrawn" Christie's smile was soft and warm, obviously something that came from being a mom to Lauren, Natalie and later Anastasia, for a moment I envied them even as Christie spoke.

"Nothing that a constant diet of love, hugs and kisses wouldn't have made a lot easier" She turned her head to look at me over her shoulder once again. "I take it that wasn't a big part of growing up in the Isles household?" I frowned, suddenly realising where Christie had gained some of her insight.

"Now you're using things I've told Natalie" She smiled softly, her voice equally so.

"Dear one, Nat cares for you deeply, more than you probably realise; in fact from how she talks about you, if she didn't have Ana and you didn't have Jane I'd probably be giving you the prospective mother in law vetting talk about now" I looked up, shocked at her words, making Christie smile widely. "I didn't think you were fully aware of it. Natalie thinks you and Jane are truly wonderful people, she loves you both dearly and wants you to be happy; something Ana is in wholehearted agreement on" She tilted her head as she regarded me. "Dear one, Nat and Ana have both sung your praises since you first met. I doubted anyone could live up to the hype, according to them you are perfect, as a person, as a doctor and as their friend" I felt myself blushing at the praise even as I struggled for a response.

"They are both very kind, I care for them both deeply, they have been wonderfully supportive friends" Christie turned from the stove, tossing a dish towel over her shoulder in a very natural gesture as she wiped her hands on the hanging end.

"Actually, I don't think they're being all that kind, I think they're being accurate. You seem a wonderful woman, Jane's very lucky to have you"

"It is me whom is lucky to have her"

"Not a bad thing really, you both realize how lucky you are. Too many couples forget that" She shrugged gently as she looked over at me. "Obviously something that you haven't"

I smiled as I looked away, Jane was the most important thing in the world for me, an indisputable fact and one that was equally true of Jane's regard for me, a fact that brought me a great comfort, I'd never had someone who cared for me like that. Before I could respond we heard the screen door bang close, making Christie smile.

"That's probably Nat back from the barn, she was never a quiet child growing up and nothing's changed" A few seconds later her daughter walked in, face alight.

"She's looking fantastic mom; you're obviously looking after her really well"

"Naturally" Christie smiled slyly. "I've had plenty of experience dealing with wilful, headstrong young girls, after the nightmare that was raising you lot Smoke is a calm joy to deal with" Natalie frowned as she replied.

"That's hardly a fair comparison" Christie played it off with a smile.

"If the horseshoe fits…"

"But I'm your oldest daughter, your heir and apple of your eye" Natalie protested, in return Christie smirked as she spoke.

"I will point out that Ana is older than you, so that doesn't work; there's no heirs as we've decided to spend your inheritance and as for apple of my eye, well Lauren has been ringing me rather more than you have lately…"

"That's cause she doesn't work anywhere near as hard as I do" Christie shrugged again, obviously enjoying teasing her daughter as I smiled at the banter.

"I call them like I see them, so…" Natalie folded her arms and pushed out a pretend pout at her mother before turning my way and favouring me with a dazzling smile.

"What do you think Maura?" I smiled and glanced at Christie, the opportunity to tease Natalie too good to pass up, then looked back at Natalie.

"I believe that it is never good manners to criticise the hostess, so I am afraid I must take Christie's side of this particular argument" I saw her eyes widen in mock shock.

"But, you're supposed to be my best friend!" I shrugged lightly.

"Perhaps true, but Christie is the one cooking dinner and as we are both aware, cooking has never been your forte" As Natalie's jaw dropped in faux-outrage Christie stepped over and put her arm around my shoulders as she spoke, smiling at her scandalised daughter.

"I really like this one Nat, she can come home anytime"

"WHAT?!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **05 Home on the Range Part 2**

Natalie's viewpoint

Lauren fell in love with Jane and Maura immediately. She well knew how both Ana and I felt about them and she quickly made it known how she felt too. She'd piled out of dad's SUV and bounded up the steps with a happy shout to where we were waiting; throwing her arms around first mom then me, her voice in my ear was warm.

"Hey sis, you look good" I smiled as I replied.

"You too little sis" we disentangled ourselves as I looked her over, two years younger than me, she looked good in tight boot jeans, brown leather jacket and a sweater over a button down, she was an inch and a bit taller than me, something the boot heels only emphasised while her hair had grown a bit since Christmas, it was almost as long as mine now, though she had it in a low ponytail for convenience.

She turned from me to take in Maura, standing there in a Collette Dinnigan dress and tan high-heeled Cavalli boots and nodded to herself as she ran her eyes over her, then smiled happily.

"Looking like that you MUST be Maura" I watched as Maura glanced down at her clothes then back up to Lauren.

"Is there something wrong?" Lauren's grin was blinding and her words were full of laughter.

"Nope, only Maura Isles could wear runway fashion to a farm and make it look perfect" Maura smiled and was about to say something when she was engulfed in one of Lauren's full-body hugs, she gave hugs like she lived life, exuberant and all in with no holding back. I know that Maura's normally a bit reserved with people she didn't know, not all that comfortable with strangers touching her but Lauren pushed right past that to hug her tightly, I don't know what she said but Maura coloured gently and smiled shyly as they stepped back; Lauren glanced my way and winked. "You told me she was beautiful, but wow"

Ana and Jane both laughed as I saw Maura's blush deepen, making me admonish her gently.

"Leave her alone sis, she's took"

That got me a pout before she laughed again and turned, moving to help Jane and Ana get their bags out of the back of Dad's car and inside.

We settled down in the kitchen for coffee and mom's apple pie; it was a bit depressing actually, everyone in my family could cook but me. Ana was a gourmet chef, she could probably cook professionally while dad was the maestro at smoking and spit roasting meat, his results were mouth-watering; Lauren was fine in the kitchen and mom's cooking, especially her baking, was something else. Sitting in this kitchen, wolfing down mom's fresh-made apple pie, one of our favourites, that right there was my childhood all wrapped up in one moment, full of warmth and love and the sights and smells of home, I felt myself immediately relaxing, stresses falling away as the banter bounced around the room.

This was what I wanted for myself, to have a home and kids and to be a family, something Ana wanted too, she'd been an only child growing up, a little lonely as an army kid on base, now she revelled in the feel of home even more than I did. I looked across at her and caught her eye, getting a wink and a tiny nod, letting me know she was happy and relaxed.

The day passed quickly, Jane and dad were obviously getting along fine, at one time I'd heard them deep in discussion about the problems of keeping the plumbing running in the depths of winter; it made sense I guess, Jane being the daughter of a plumber and all, while mom and Maura were happily discussing food and recipes as Maura asked about some of the traditions of mid-western cooking, knowing Maura we'd probably find she'd whipped something up for dinner at her place one evening, that was Maura to a tee, the perfect, considerate hostess and an even better friend.

Leaving them to it I joined Lauren and Ana out in the barn where they were busy making friends again with their mares Traveller and Patch, not having seen them for a few months while Smoke whickered and happily gobbled down a couple of carrots as treats. Lauren and I'd ridden all our lives; it kinda came with growing up on a farm in this part of the world, while Ana had taken to it when we'd first come out here and eagerly looked forward to it each time we came home. We'd already agreed come tomorrow morning we'd take Maura and Jane on a ride up to Spur Line Ridge, the highest point around here, it wasn't all that high, it is Wyoming we're talking about after all, but you had an amazing view all the way out to Cheyenne; they would ride mom and dad's Caramel and Champ and we'd have a picnic lunch up on the ridge, fortified with Irish Coffee brewed over the fireplace we'd built up there back when we were teenagers.

Lunch left us all filled up and feeling lazy so we sprawled all over the lounge room couches for most of the afternoon, bringing mom and dad up to date on all our goings on before we'd retired to our rooms for a nap; Lauren following us in to snuggle up on Ana's other side, she was obviously feeling a little lonely, what with being single and seeing two happy couples, so we made a show of protesting before dragging her down onto the bed with us and snuggling under the quilt, quickly devolving into a tickle fight, something about being home brought out the kid in all of us, then chatting for a while before falling asleep.

Mom had dragged us out of a sound sleep around five, telling us to get up or we wouldn't sleep tonight, all delivered in her 'mom' voice, before she'd headed off to do the same to Maura and Jane. Dinner turned out to be oven-roasted rosemary-seasoned vegetables and dad's rotisserie-cooked beef, slow roasted over the fire pit all day and cooked to perfection. Jane loudly voicing her approval before unapologetically going back for a second helping of beef, to dad's quiet but obvious approval. Knowing how good it was I didn't need to, having piled my plate high the first time, the same as Lauren and Ana.

We all piled in to wash up, refusing to let mom and dad do it, with five of us in the kitchen it was a noisy, raucous and happy affair but with everything finally dried and put away everyone got sent upstairs to dress warmly before we all trooped outside to sit and talk around the still lit fire pit.

The night was cold but we got everyone seated around the fire pit, dad had dug that one out almost twenty years ago and we'd both 'helped' him line it with bricks, well helped as much as a couple of young kids could. It had been the scene of hundreds of family evenings, sometimes we'd roast meat over the fire on a slow turning spit, other times like now we'd sit and toast marshmallows and drink hot chocolate, safe from the night's cold in the radiated heat of the fire.

Mom and dad had joined us for a while, happily telling some embarrassing stories about when we were kids, there must be some parent's rule that shaming your kids in front of their friends is mandatory; laughing with Jane and Maura and Ana as Lauren and I squirmed in embarrassment, before finally excusing themselves, telling us that it was getting late and they'd leave us to chat. They got a round of hugs and kisses from everyone, even Jane, then headed inside as we sat back and got comfortable again before the conversation soon turned to Lauren and getting her out to LA for a visit.

"You should come out and visit, at least check out the place, come and play tourist" Jane shrugged. "That's what we did when we first arrived" Lauren nodded.

"I've never been there, let's hope I won't need you and Ana here to protect me" I confidently put that thought to bed.

"Between Jane and Tsarina you couldn't be safer"

"Who knows, I might even meet someone out there, the dating pools got to be bigger than D.C." I nodded at her words, thinking of the people we knew back in LA, none of them really jumped out but LA was a big city with a great lifestyle for singles.

"Do you have a preference?" It was Jane. Lauren shook her head.

"No, I just want someone special, you both have it, so obviously you don't need a guy to be happy, god knows I've seen that with Nat and Ana over the years, so while I once thought I'd be looking for Mister Right, now I'm a lot more flexible, Miss Right would be just fine, if they were the right one" I listened carefully, Lauren had never really been as upfront about her willingness to try a lesbian relationship, it may have been seeing us, perhaps seeing Jane and Maura and hearing about Alex and Liv had made it clear that it wasn't just us who could make it work.

"Were you at all aware that you were potentially interested in a relationship with a women prior to Natalie admitting her feelings for Anastasia?" At Maura's question Lauren shook her head, sending her ponytail swinging as she did.

"Nope, thought guys were it, hadn't really met many gay people, a couple of guys in the last few years at high school" She pulled a face then continued. "They got a bit of a hard time from some of the football jocks, but I hadn't met an actual lesbian, at least one who was prepared to admit it to me back then" She shrugged. "There's a few here now, but they're still not all that common, nothing like Los Angeles or New York or Washington"

"That's why I keep telling you to move out our way" Ana said. "We'll get you hooked up" I nodded enthusiastically as I seconded that thought.

"Yeah, I can't arrange your love life across the entire country sis; you have to come out to LA"

"What makes you think I want you meddling in my love life" she said as I rolled my eyes.

"Lack of love life you mean" I smirked at her. When was the last time you got laid?" That got me a cushion tossed my way.

"Hey! Besides, we have guests"

"Them? They've heard it all" I chuckled for a moment. "Literally" That got a series of low chuckles around the fire, even from Jane, proving once again just how close we'd become. Deciding to try and change the subject to get the spotlight off her sex life Lauren looked across the fire to Jane and Maura.

"So tell me about your wedding, I've heard all about the proposal from these two, it sounded perfect, so what do you have planned to top that?" Maura smiled.

"We are still finalising the guest list but we have agreed that we would prefer an outdoor wedding, fortunately Los Angeles provides almost perfect weather for one" As I snuggled up against Tsarina, as much for comfort as warmth Lauren nodded.

"Not back in Boston?" she asked.

"Oh hell no!" It was Jane. "That way too many of my relatives can get to it, or guilt my ma into hassling me about why they didn't get invites" She waved her hands dismissively in front of her. "I am not inviting my third cousin twice removed Vinnie from Fort Lauderdale just because his last name happens to be Rizzoli; god knows my ma's already putting together a list of 'family' I just 'have' to invite" She put the words in finger quotes before shaking her head. "I've never heard of most of these people, let alone met them. Nope, this is our wedding, all those hangers-on can go mooch at one of my relative's family wedding; this one is for people we want to be there" Maura smiled indulgently; obviously she'd heard all of this before, then looked round the fire and spoke.

"The only family I have are my parents and I would hope that they will agree to attend" She shrugged as I nodded in understanding then continued. "The remainder of the people I would hope will be there are our friends" Lauren nodded then turned to us.

"Yours is going to be something small, right? I know that's what you've wanted for ages" I nodded as Ana replied.

"Ours is definitely going to be small, I don't have any family on the Romanov side that I'm even remotely close to; all my family is out here now" She smiled at Lauren and I, pulling me close and placing a kiss to my temple, making me smile contentedly as she continued. "So it's mom and dad, you, a few of our closest friends; basically Jane and Maura here, Alex and Liv in New York, Brenda and Sharon back in LA, well if they can ever convince Pope to let them get away…"

"Pope, who's that?" It was Lauren breaking in so I explained that one.

"Our boss, the Chief of the LAPD; he's a real P.I.T.A. He tends to rely on some of his senior people a lot, that includes Jane's boss Brenda, she's a Deputy Chief in charge of the Major Crimes division, and her partner, Sharon, she was head of the division that investigated police shooting but she's just taken over the Robbery Homicide section after it was completely cleaned out following a series of recent incidents" I shrugged. "Both are really good at their jobs and he relies on them a lot which means that he gets antsy when both of them are out of town, add in the fact that his medical examiner, his Bureau liaison and his media advisor are all away as well, let's just say he gets difficult and leave it at that" Lauren nodded and replied reflectively.

"Let's hope they can all be here" Jane looked up.

"Here meaning Cheyenne?" I shook my head as Ana replied.

"No, here on the farm, there's a spot down by the river that's perfect" Lauren nodded and chipped in.

"That's the glade right?" I nodded at Jane and Maura as I replied.

"It's a spot I told Ana I wanted to get married in, the first time she saw it, she agreed, back on that first visit home" Lauren jumped back in.

"It's beautiful, it's a perfect place to be married; I want to get married there too" I smiled; another opportunity to tease her had just opened up.

"Well for that to happen you actually have to meet someone, which requires you to actually get a boyfriend or girlfriend" Ana backed my play with gusto.

"Yeah, let's get back to the important issue here, how we're going to get Lauren laid?" At Ana's comment Lauren gave her a filthy look.

"I do not need your help with that thank you very much" she said, making me snicker at that, its got to be in the sister's code somewhere that hassling the youngest is practically mandatory, and piled on.

"Sure, when was the last time you got some?" She gave me an indignant look.

"I get enough offers, I sure as hell don't need your help" Ana's dismissal was brutally short.

"Bull shit" I nodded in agreement and backed her up.

"How long?" She shrugged, way too nonchalantly for my tastes and tried to play it off.

"Not long" I wasn't letting her off the hook that easily.

"How. Long?" Maura jumped in to rescue Lauren.

"Is there no one you might be interested in, no one you have met?" Lauren gave her a grateful smile for the out and took it.

"Sure I meet plenty of people, but most of them are patients and I don't date patients. Given its D.C. the place is overrun with politicians, staffers, lobbyists, commentators and other people who make a living out of politics" She shrugged with one shoulder. "Frankly politics bores me to tears"

"So no one really?" It was Jane; Lauren fiddled with her ponytail as she replied.

"You meet people, some are really nice, I mean take to bed nice, some maybe more, but they're mostly taken" She tossed her head to shift her ponytail back out of the way and continued. "I mean sure, if I was like Nat here, well the old, pre-Ana Nat I could go out to a nightclub and pick up some meathead for a quickie, but that's her, not me" I couldn't let that stand.

"What the hell!" She grinned at me.

"Two words Nat, Chad Evens" I groaned as I felt my cheeks burn, the alpha male of our high school; he'd been the epitome of all brawn, zero brains, the guy was a dumb as a sack of rocks, back then that had been enough, now though it was a really embarrassing memory..

"That was once, everyone's entitled to a single mistake" Tsarina nudged me in the ribs

"What about that knucklehead Seahawk's line-backer in Seattle? And let's not forget that personal trainer, Tony wasn't it?" Seeing the others grinning at her words I gave her a good shove away from me.

"So I like fit hard bodies, nothing wrong with that" Trying to deflect the attention I threw a sultry glance Jane's way. "I mean Jane here has the 'BEST' muscle definition, maybe I should take the offer to join her harem" Ana just chuckled mockingly so I poked my tongue out at her and levered myself up, wandering round the fire to where Jane was sitting next to Maura. "Make room Jane" She rolled her eyes but leaned back, giving me room to settle in her lap, her arm coming up to rest around my waist as I gave her a kiss on the cheek, then looked over at Ana, shooting her an 'I win' look while Jane rolled her eyes then spoke even as I settled into her for a cuddle.

"I don't think I could handle both of you, you'd either kill me from exhaustion or drive me mental" She looked thoughtful. "Probably the second one actually now I think of it" Maura nodded, smiling at Ana who winked and spoke up.

"Good point Jane" She waved her hand at Maura. "Hey Maura, I have a perfectly fine vacant lap that's all yours" She nodded and started getting up.

"I do believe I will avail myself of your offer, at least until Jane learns that quantity is not everything and realises that it is not how much sex you are getting, but the quality that matters" I just favoured her with grin and hit her with that famous Stalin quote.

"Quantity has a quality all of its own" Maura just shook her head with a smile as she moved around the fire, settling gracefully into Ana's lap and exchanging a playful peck on the lips as she did.

"See, that's exactly what I'm looking for" I looked over to Lauren who was gesturing between where Jane and I were on one side of the fire and Maura was settled in Ana's lap on the other. I nodded to myself, understanding where she was coming from as she continued. "I mean you love each other so much you can do stuff like that…" She nodded to where Maura was sitting curled up in Ana's lap, one of Ana's arms around her waist to keep her balanced. "…without jealousy or any of the usual petty bullshit you see" Lauren shook her head. "God you're so lucky" I leaned my head against Jane's as I spoke.

"That's because Maura and Jane here are not only our best friends, who we love more than anything, but they're just as much all wrapped up in each other as Tsarina and I are" Jane nodded.

"I love Nat here, and Ana's like a sister, we both trust them like family" Lauren nodded enthusiastically as she explained her reasoning.

"Exactly, most guys don't get that I could cuddle another guy who isn't my boyfriend without wanting to sleep with them, you trust and respect each other" Jane and I nodded but Ana demurred.

"It's because we love each other sis, let me tell you it's not a lesbian thing, lots of lesbians wouldn't be able to handle it, they'd get bitchy and catty and insecure, jealousy isn't just a male curse and insecurity hits everyone"

"Really, you guys sure don't suffer any of that" She nodded towards where Maura had her head resting on Anna's shoulder, her feet stretched out towards the fire for warmth. Jane shrugged.

"Like I said, trust" I nodded enthusiastically then tried to explain.

"Lauren, you have to understand, Jane here has fought to protect me from people who wanted us dead" I turned and gave the woman in question a quick 'thank you' kiss on the corner of her mouth, getting a shy smile in return before continuing. "If that doesn't build trust…" I let that thought trail off as Jane nodded once and picked it up.

"Same as Ana here fought to protect Maura from those gangers, we've looked out for each other when it counts plenty of times, I trust her to have our backs no matter what" Lauren nodded slowly.

"I can see that" Ana shrugged.

"It's more than that though" she said. "Maura here has slept in the same bed with us when Jane was away" She smiled at Lauren who was sitting there with a slightly stunned expression on her face at that news. "None of us sleep all that well alone anymore so Maura stayed at our place; Jane knew that she was safe and protected and loved, same as I'd sleep safer in the same situation knowing Nat was with Jane and Maura" Jane and Maura nodded at her words, as did I. Lauren sipped her drink for a moment then nodded, her voice quiet.

"That's a level of trust I hadn't dreamt of" she said. I shrugged as Ana played it off.

"It's a bit like when you sleep with us on Christmas Eve, it's a love and trust and comfort thing" Jane smiled at me then turned her head to look at Lauren.

"Same goes for Nat or Maura with Alex and Olivia, the deals the same" Maura nodded.

"Olivia and Alex are as close to us as your sister and Anastasia are" she said. "They are equally loved and trusted" I nodded, wanting to give her a bit of context, I wanted her to know just how close we were and how much they all meant to us.

"Maura and Jane and Alex and Liv are my non-biological sisters" I smiled at her. "I have a beautiful sister I grew up with and four beautiful ones that I didn't" Lauren nodded again, obviously taking it all in before a sly smile appeared.

"I'm kinda worried about you sis, you too Ana, after all you had a stunning woman in bed with you and didn't do anything about it, makes me wonder just how smart you two actually are" She sniggered. "They might revoke your lesbian's club membership" Before we could reply Jane chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure that's what Aisling would say" There were snickers and chuckles around the fire before Jane explained to Lauren. "The bouncer at one of our favourite clubs; Aisling, because of something that happened the first time we went there, got this idea in her head that we're in some kind of open relationship with each other, she keeps dropping hints that she'd like to be considered if we ever have an opening" I smiled at the memory of the intense Irish woman, she'd made her interest well known in a low-key, polite sort of way.

"I can understand that, I mean Maura and Jane here are gorgeous and from the pictures you've shown me, your friends in New York, Alex and Olivia are amazing too" Lauren winked broadly as she continued. "Just remember to keep me in mind if that opening happens, okay" I snickered happily at her before teasing her.

"Sorry, we have standards" My words immediately got me the finger.

"Can't be all that high if you got in" she smiled. "Anyway, just keep me in mind"

"No promises"

"Bitch" I nodded and snuggled a little closer into Jane's welcome embrace.

"Yep, a very comfortable, very lucky bitch" Lauren rolled her eyes, though the amusement in them was easily seen in the firelight

"Still a bitch" We exchanged poked out tongues before Maura stepped in to play peacemaker.

"While we appreciate the offer Lauren, and you can be assured that both Jane and I are both flattered by your offer and consider you a beautiful and frankly desirable woman, neither of us have any interest in another"

Lauren smiled and nodded in understanding.

"I know Maura, and I was only joking, what you guys have, well anyone would want that, I want the same, something special with someone incredible" I smiled as Ana spoke.

"It'll happen sis, sooner than you might think"


	6. Chapter 6

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **06 Passing the Shield Part 2**

Jane's viewpoint

It felt funny, the new rank, Detective Sergeant Jane Rizzoli, I'd been used to being just Detective for so long it had almost become my other name, now it'd changed and that'd take some getting used to.

Detective Sergeant Jane Rizzoli, LAPD. That was the other big change. New city, new force, new rank, new badge number, lots of changes, most of them good ones. Our secondment, then relocation, to LA had turned out to be one of the best thing's Maura and I had ever done, we'd had the chance to build a new life together out here amongst friends.

Sanchez had asked me to come out for coffee with Gabriel and Mendoza, they had some stuff they needed to talk to us about, off-site, so here we were walking into a coffee shop in a local mall two blocks from headquarters even as I wondered what was up.

We sat and ordered, just chatting about the moves, the changes, some cases we were picking up from them, all pretty usual stuff, but I could tell they were waiting for coffee to arrive before settling down to talk. When it did we each took a sip before I leaned back and looked at them, I was about to say something when Mendoza jumped in.

"What's up guys, the coffee's ok but not worth the walk, so what's the real reason you wanted us out here?" Sanchez rolled his eyes while Gabriel just shook his head.

"We were about to tell you when you butted in, so why not demonstrate some patience and let us talk" I grinned, a second later and it'd have been me on the receiving end. Never thought I'd see the day I'd work with another detective with even less patience than me. I nodded at them and spoke.

"Go on, we're listening" I got a quick glance of gratitude from Gabriel, before he sat back.

"Look, we're transferring over to Robbery/Homicide next week, so from Monday it'll be up to you to pick up the slack" Sanchez nodded.

"Provenza and Flynn are good, but they ain't getting any younger, you know what I mean?" We both nodded, we did indeed; we'd be the ones doing the leg work. Sanchez leaned forward. "You already know that, you'll do ok, but that's not why we dragged you out here" I nodded as Mendoza leaned forward.

"So why did you bring us here?" Sanchez looked at Gabriel who pulled a face, before leaning forward, his hands clasped on the table.

"There's another job you two have. As you know, the Chief's a lead-from-the-front kinda person, not the sort to let someone else do anything she wouldn't, a bit impetuous" Sanchez frowned as he spoke, backing up Gabriel.

"Basically the Chief sometimes puts the case ahead of her own safety" I nodded, remembering the shoot-out with Charlotte Weaver, the Chief had put herself out there to attract Weaver's attention away from Flynn, if Weaver had been quicker on the trigger Brenda would have been dead; I knew exactly what they meant. Sanchez wasn't finished. "…and sometimes takes risks to protect other people in the squad" They both nodded as Gabriel looked both of us in the eye before gesturing at Sanchez and himself.

"Basically, it's been our job to try and protect her, from threats and sometimes from herself" Sanchez nodded.

"Now we won't be there to do that and someone has to..." Mendoza glanced at me then nodded.

"And we just got elected right?" Sanchez grinned.

"Right" At his statement I nodded as I replied.

"I don't have a problem with that, like you said, someone's got to" Mendoza looked at me.

"Is she that bad, really?" she asked. I went to say something when Sanchez held his hand up, stopping me.

"How many times has Commander Ruiz had to use his service weapon in the last couple of years?" Mendoza frowned for a moment before answering.

"Maybe once, twice, maybe" She paused, obviously thinking over her previous commander's history. "Yeah, early last year, during that shoot out at that bank" Sanchez and Gabriel exchanged a glance before Gabriel spoke softly.

"The Chief has had to use her service weapon over a dozen times in the last few years, including killing five people" Mendoza's mouth dropped open. Finally she pulled it together enough to speak.

"Oh shit..." Gabriel nodded slowly, letting her realise exactly how serious he was. Finally he spoke.

"Those fatal shootings were all killed or be killed situations" Sanchez shrugged.

"That's the Chief, she leads from the front. That's why we're needed" Gabriel nodded.

"So are you up for it Mendoza?" I looked at Mendoza, catching her eye and raising an eyebrow. She looked at me, then glanced at the guys, before looking back at me and tilting her head slightly, asking the question of me. I nodded once and she returned the nod.

"Yeah, I'm in" I turned to look at Sanchez and Gabriel.

"Me too" They both sat back and nodded before Sanchez spoke up.

"Look, maybe it'll be better, maybe this thing with Commander Raydor will make her slow down a bit, be a bit more careful" He shrugged. "Maybe" Gabriel nodded and spoke, looking into the dregs of his coffee.

"Yeah, maybe. It's just weird, the Chief and the Commander, I never saw that coming" He looked up to see both Mendoza and I looking at him a little sharply, making him wince; he must have realised how that sounded as he tried to explain. "I don't mean that. Neither of you were here when they first locked horns, it was intense, y'know, the fights" Sanchez nodded slowly, a slow smile appearing.

"Epic" Mendoza smiled and nodded.

"I heard the stories, they did the rounds" Gabriel nodded and continued the thread.

"So you can understand why it was a bit of a surprise, them getting together" We both nodded before Mendoza shrugged.

"They seem happy" Gabriel and Sanchez nodded and smiled as I sat back. I wasn't going to say anything, even though I'd had a front row seat throughout most of the lead up to Brenda and Sharon's relationship. Given how obviously happy they'd were now, most recently on show at dinner at Ana and Nat's last weekend, I was just glad to have helped out.

We chatted for a couple more minutes, just general stuff as we finished our coffees before Gabriel suggested it was time to head back. I started to stand when Mendoza piped up.

"You guys head on, Rizzoli and I have a few things to discuss" I looked at her for a moment as she sat there, before nodding and addressing them both.

"Catch you guys later then" They took the hint and left, leaving me and Mendoza alone. I moved to the seat across the table and looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She looked a little uncertain as she spoke.

"So" I smiled as I tossed it back at her.

"So?"

"Is it really that bad?" At her question I nodded.

"You heard them" Mendoza gave a very Hispanic shrug before answering.

"Yeah, but I thought they may have been laying it on a bit thick, I mean both of them have worked for her for almost eight years, they're really close to the Chief so I thought they may have overstated the problem" I let one eyebrow rise in challenge before speaking quietly.

"Mendoza, Flynn's alive right now because Brenda exposed herself to that sniper to draw their fire away from them. Brenda was right there when another mad son of a bitch was going to detonate a canister of nerve gas at a funeral with hundreds of first responders on the scene, if she hadn't taken that shot and killed him god knows how many people would have died, including her entire squad, even though it probably cost her the promotion to Chief of Police" I shook my head, recalling some of the stories the team had passed on plus others that I'd had a front row seat to. "She and Sharon out shot a bunch of gangers who tried for a drive by less than a month ago, Brenda killing one and Sharon wounding the other, plus Maura and I are alive in part because of the actions Brenda and Sharon took when we were ambushed a few weeks back" I looked up, locking eyes with her.

"Brenda has personally extracted confessions or otherwise sent to jail drug lords, corrupt cops, crooked politicians, gang bangers, serial killers and serial rapists. That's a lot of people who hate her with a passion and would be happy to have her dead" I stared her down until she looked away, dropping her gaze down at the table, allowing me to finish driving my point home. "I really don't think it's possible to overstate the problem, do you" She looked down at the table for a few seconds and shook her head once then looked up to meet my eyes.

"I guess not" I nodded, she was getting the message, time to hammer it home.

"Brenda's impulsive, she cares about her squad and catching the scum we have to deal with, so it's gonna be our job to protect her. If you're not up for it let me know now" Her eyes, brown like mine, maybe a bit darker, locked on mine.

"I said I was in, didn't I?" There was an edge to her voice, good. I nodded once.

"That you did" She looked at me with a speculative eye.

"You're really close aren't you, you and the Chief?" I raised an eyebrow; Mendoza had been to your place a few times when we'd had Brenda and Sharon over, she should have known the answer so I asked the question.

"What makes you say that?" She waved her hand back and forward as she spoke.

"Everyone else in the squad, she's the Chief, but she's Brenda to you" I shrugged.

"Could be that's what I call her" Mendoza shook her head.

"But it isn't just that. I've watched you, her and you, there's something more than just socialising with the boss and her girlfriend" I peered across the table at her then spoke.

"Like what?" She shrugged, a very Latin one, expressive as hell.

"You have a thing, both of you. It's more than just a work thing, you kinda tease and hassle her in a way no one else in the squad does. What's going on?"

"Brenda's a friend, Sharon too, plus they were our friends before they got together, I was there when they got together"

"Oh, OK, I knew something was going on, I just didn't know what" I shrugged, deciding to give her some context.

"When we first arrived, Brenda was single and we didn't know anyone, we made friends with Nat and Ana, who were in the same boat. We became good friends, and together we reached out to Sharon and Brenda, they seemed like nice people, turns out they were. We became friends and were there when they got together, kinda helped them connect and were there right through that whole thing" I shrugged. "So yeah, I have a different relationship with her than most of the squad" She was silent for a moment, before looking up at me.

"Does that mean she'll listen to you?" she asked. I thought about that for a moment.

"Depends on what it is, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be standing between her and something she believes she has to do to close a case" Mendoza grimaced at that thought then spoke slowly.

"Pity, I thought it might give is an inside run on trying to look out for her; based on what you and the guys said, it's a full time job" I nodded slowly, turning the empty coffee cup in front of me round and round on its saucer while I pondered her statement, finally nodding and replying.

"Yeah, it can be, but like Sanchez said, maybe having Sharon in her life will help" Mikki nodded and smiled, her voice a little reflective.

"We had dinner with them a couple weeks back, they both seemed really happy, it was a good night" She looked pensive. "Nothing like Raydor's rep as the Wicked Witch of FID" I shrugged at that.

"They're happy, they make each other happy. Now that Sharon's out of Force Investigations she doesn't have to be the person she was there, maybe people will see a lot more of that person in the future" Mendoza mulled that over a bit before responding.

"She was good company over dinner that night, maybe you're right, she seems a different person off duty" I smiled, remembering a few nights out we'd had together since they got together. Oh yes, Sharon was very different when she was off the clock.

"What was that smile all about?" I looked up; Mendoza was looking at me, her eyes narrowed. I shook my head slowly.

"Oh, nothing, just… nothing" Mendoza nodded slowly, before changing the subject.

"So, what about you and Doctor Isles, you both seem happy enough" I nodded slowly.

Normally I don't particularly like being interrogated about my personal life, but I suppose I was going to be partnering Mendoza and we needed to be comfortable with each other.

"I am, we clicked and it worked. We were friends for a couple of years before we got together, but best thing to ever happen to me, so yeah, we're happy"

"This is long term for you both, right?" I nodded emphatically.

"Fuck yeah, this it for me, what's it they say?" I remembered a comment Kate Beckett had made about Rick Castle that had stuck with me. "She's my one and done" Mendoza nodded slowly and sat back as she looked at me, giving me an opening to ask a few of my own.

"What about you and Hobbs?" At my question she lifted a single eyebrow before replying.

"What about it?" I shrugged as I spoke.

"What about you two? What's the story?" She sat back and relaxed in the seat a bit as she explained.

"We got together during prep work for a trial, we went out for drinks one Friday night and started talking" She shrugged. "I liked her, she's smart and was good fun to talk to so I started some gentle flirting, just messing with her y'know, but she gave as good as she got. Before we knew it we were flirting in earnest so I stopped it then and asked if she was aware that I'm gay. Basically gave her an out in case she was getting into something she didn't want" I nodded, sounded like a good play in case there were any misunderstandings. "Turns out she knew exactly what she was getting into, she'd had a relationship years before with a woman and well… we ended up together" I decided to ask her the same question she'd hit me with.

"So is this long-term for you?" Mendoza looked out the window at the passing traffic, watching the cars and pedestrians for a while. I let her think it through, it was a big question but at least she was giving me a considered answer.

"Yeah, I think it is, she's different from my usual partners, but I think... yeah, it's better, she's someone I want to be with and she tells me she wants to be with me, so maybe yeah"

"Well, that's nice and definite" She shot me a filthy look.

"Gimme a break, it's been only a couple of months" I grinned as I thought of something and decided to share.

"We have friends in New York, one of them is a NYPD detective, the other's an Assistant District Attorney; sound familiar?" She nodded. "Olivia, the detective, told me one day it was a good thing that she and Alex loved each other, because she never, ever won an argument with her" Mendoza nodded and smiled quietly.

"I'm learning that particular lesson pretty quick" I smiled at her words.

"Just keep them happy, give them everything they want and don't argue, the secret to a healthy, successful relationship"

"I thought you were with a medical examiner, not a lawyer?" I chuckled.

"I'm with a certified genius-level medical examiner. Trust me, compared to her, a lawyer would be a push over" I went to stand up. "Fortunately, I do all I can to keep her happy" Mendoza nodded and stood.

"So you think you've got all the answers eh?" At that I laughed, I couldn't help it. Finally I subsided enough to speak.

"God no, Maura has all the answers, I just do as I'm told"

"So you're whipped?" I shrugged, recalling saying something to Ana a couple of months back and liking her answer.

"You'll learn soon enough, besides, someone told me that if the hand holding the whip's that pretty, who cares"

Mendoza had a thoughtful expression on her face as I led her out of the café and back to work.


	7. Chapter 7

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **07 Voodoo Hoodoo**

Sharon's viewpoint

The call had come in relatively early in the evening, around 9 pm. I'd been curled up on the sofa at Brenda's watching some forgettable cop movie as we laughed together at the mistakes; the blatant insubordination of the star, his disregard for procedures, evidence, habeas corpus, due process, the basics of gun safety and the lives of innocent bystanders as he seemingly gunned down everyone who crossed his path. Getting up to answer the call I'd smiled sadly and kissed Brenda, then walked into the bedroom and got changed, we both kept several changes of clothing at each other's places for just this sort of thing, making me reflect that we needed to stop living separate lives and get ourselves sorted out under one roof sooner rather than later. Now wasn't the time though so I tabled that thought getting changed and heading for the bathroom as Lieutenant Gabriel texted me the initial details from the scene, something I made a note to thank him for. Ready to face the outside world I passed through the living area, getting a hug and a kiss as I headed out the door; I was just a little anxious, after all this was going to be my first major new case since taking over Robbery / Homicide.

I knew my move out of FID hadn't been particularly welcomed; there were other Commanders who wanted the high profile role, not to mention lots of ambitious Captains who just knew they'd be a better fit for the Commander's rank that the job entailed and weren't particularly quiet about saying so. I'd heard enough of it through back channels to know there were plenty of people watching, looking for me to fail, that I wasn't cut out for anything other than being the frigid bitch of Force Investigation and that I should stay where I belonged.

Truth be told, I was nervous, I hadn't run a normal criminal investigation in years, sure I'd been good at them, back before FID, before I'd transferred to the LAPD, that had been a long time ago though and while I may have the nickname of the 'Ice Queen' I was human enough to doubt myself. Brenda of course had no doubts, she'd been nothing but completely supportive, as she'd put it if I could get to the bottom of investigations into corrupt, murdering cops, a normal, ordinary homicide should be easy.

Unfortunately the initial details Lieutenant Gabriel had texted through made it look like this one was anything but normal or ordinary. Fortunately I had a good team to back me up, Sanchez, Gabriel and Kwang were all rock solid and I'd helped select the rest of the team from across the LAPD so I had to have faith in them.

Arriving at the scene in Florence, a low socio-economic area with a history of issues, I saw a ripple go through the cops watching as I got out of my car, my FID reputation still apparent. I showed my badge to the cop on the door who was already standing back out of the way before making my way up to the second floor of the mid-60's era building.

I put on a pair of gloves and the disposable over-shoe covers before walking through the door to the cheap apartment, seeing police, uniformed and detectives both, moving about while the coroner's team worked, that was all too familiar from my time in Force Investigation, what was different was the amount of blood on the floor and the vast open cavity where the victim's torso had been, the stink of blood and death was everywhere. I shook my head at the sight then clamped down on my emotions, time to be the person in charge, the LAPDs Ice Queen, once more.

I looked round and saw Maura crouched down over the body despite the hour, she'd apparently arranged to get calls out to my cases, something for which I was quietly, desperately grateful for. I also saw Sergeant, now Lieutenant, David Gabriel standing there waiting for me, another change from the days in FID, but a good one.

"Lieutenant Gabriel" He nodded respectfully.

"Good evening Commander, a pretty ugly one tonight" I glanced at the body again and nodded slightly as I spoke.

"So I see; thank you for the heads up, it is appreciated" I saw his head lift slightly at the praise as I continued. "What information have you gathered?" He flipped out a notebook and a pen, a universal cop constant as he started bringing me up to speed.

"Victim is Maria Ortado, 52, divorced, lives alone apparently" The neighbour called the cops when she smelled something bad, knocked a few times and no one answered" I nodded once as I looked round, taking everything in.

"Please go on" His gaze dropped back to his notes.

"The first response arrived and the officer recognised the smell. He called for backup and when they arrived they broke the door down" I nodded, that explained the broken door I'd entered through. "They confirmed the place was empty and the victim was dead then backed out, called it in and waited for us. The team's out now checking for witnesses, anyone who saw something, camera's, that sort of thing" I nodded again, David's summary had been clear and concise, not that I expected anything else after all those years working in Brenda's team.

"Thank you; do we have a time of death?" David indicated Maura with his pen.

"Doctor Isles is just trying to work it out now, apparently it's not as easy as usual" I nodded then took two careful steps over; carefully avoiding stepping in the blood pools and spoke.

"Good evening Doctor, what can you tell me?" Maura looked up and nodded, all cool politeness in front of others, then stood.

"Good evening Commander, the victim suffered a significant slicing wound to the front of their neck, the incision opened the carotid artery and allowed the victim to bleed out profusely" Maura crouched down again and turned the head with her blue-gloved hands, revealing a wicked slash across the throat, already covered in congealed blood and crawling insects as I grimaced slightly, Maura of course was all professionalism though I'd expect nothing less from her. "Whilst I cannot be sure until I get the body back for a proper autopsy the wound appears to have involved a very sharp blade, the size and shape of which will need to be determined" I nodded, knowing Maura hated guessing, mind you when she came to a conclusion you could take it to the bank, or court in our case. She twisted round to face the lower torso once more and indicated the gaping cavity in the victim's stomach.

"The torso wound was definitely post-mortem, the assailant made a large incision into the torso and removed a number of organs, using what appears, based on the marks to the inside of the cavity, to be a completely different blade from then one that was used to cut the victim's throat, one that has left evidence indicating a serrated edge" I nodded once, working on projecting calm though internally I recoiled a little at the size of the hole in her belly.

"Which organs were removed Doctor?" Maura shot me a sideways glance and stood in a single elegant motion.

"The victim's kidneys, stomach, spleen and liver are all absent" I nodded once again as Maura continued. "Lieutenant Gabriel has informed me that there are no signs of the organs within the apartment so it would appear that the victim's assailant or assailants took them with them upon departure" Shaking my head at what must have been one of the strangest request David must have ever received, I looked down at the body where I could see the empty spaces, the edges of the hole were ragged and there was so much blood there, some having oozed out onto the floor like some horror movie, a sight reinforced by the flies that buzzed around the corpse and the insects that had moved into the wound cavity. For a second I closed my eyes, ' _so much blood_ ' then opened them, working hard to keep my voice unemotional, I had a reputation to uphold.

"Thank you Doctor, could I ask you to please forward the results of your autopsy once you have them" Maura nodded once as I went to turn away then turned back. "I take it you don't have a definitive time of death?" She shook her head decisively as she confirmed what I'd thought.

"Unfortunately no, regrettably with the liver and number of other organs removed the usual temperature-based analysis is not possible, plus the exposure of the other organs to the open air undermines an accurate temperate reading" I nodded slowly, wondering if that had been part of the reason for the organ removal. Maura looked at me and obviously decided to step a little out of her comfort zone to help. "I can however confirm that the victim has been dead for at least 24 hours, long enough for rigor mortis to have set in then faded once again, that plus the level of decomposition suggests at least 24 hours since time of death" She did shake her head though. "That is a preliminary estimate only I am afraid, not really accurate for anything besides a general window of time" I nodded and smiled, appreciating her candour.

"Thank you Doctor, that's all I could have asked for and more"

"Once back in the lab I will undertake a tissue decomposition analysis for a more rigorous timeframe" She smiled and nodded. "I hope to have that report to you by mid-morning"

"Thank you Doctor, I appreciate it" Exchanging a smile I turned, seeing Gabriel had moved into another part of the apartment to take a call, leaving Sergeant Sanchez there with Detective Amy Sykes, a transfer in from vice. "Detectives" They nodded as Julio kicked us off.

"Ma'am, we've had a canvas of the neighbours underway, the neighbour to the left was the one who called it in, the one above had noticed the smell and called the super yesterday" He checked his notes and continued. "Neighbour to the right's in her eighties and a little…vague" He grimaced as I got the subtext and nodded.

"I understand, please continue" He flashed the thinnest of smiles at me, obviously pleased I'd picked up on what he was saying and pushed on, nodding Sykes way.

"And apparently the neighbour below is away on holiday's" Sykes nodded and spoke up.

"Given the amount of blood from the vic some of its probably leaked through the ceiling to their apartment, the neighbour would have seen it the moment they opened their door" I thought about that for a second then looked her way.

"When did the downstairs neighbour go away on holidays, and where?" To her credit Sykes didn't hesitate, she'd apparently already asked the question herself which is what I wanted to hear.

"Florida Commander, left five days ago and according to the super, isn't due back for another four days" I nodded, that seemingly cleared them but we would check on them just in case, it's what a police investigation was, eliminating the possible and the potential until you were left with the probable answers, well hopefully. I looked to Sanchez.

"Do we have a next of kin?" He nodded.

"A sister in Orlando, ex-husband is believed to now live in Venezuela, both were originally from there and moved to the US over two decades ago" He consulted his notes. "Mister Ortado hasn't renewed his California licence in nine years ma'am, which suggests he's either out of the country or he's living off the grid here in the states" I nodded.

"Please check with the appropriate federal agencies Sergeant, let's see if we can eliminate him as a suspect" I looked round, taking in the décor. "What did the victim do for a job?" Sykes handled that.

"Works as a cleaner employed by a company, Spotless Cleaning" I raised my eyebrow at that, prompting her to explain. "ID badge is in a bowl with her keys by the door" I nodded and spoke.

"Please contact Ms Ortado's employer first thing in the morning and get details of where she worked, issues at work, the usual" Sykes nodded and I looked around, taking everything in and ordering my thoughts before turning back. "Is there any sign of forced entry besides the front door" Sanchez handled that one.

"No ma'am, the windows are closed and there's a stick in the track of the sliding door out onto the balcony, impossible to slide it open with that in there"

"Possible to set it to fall into the track on the way out though" Sykes added as I nodded. I glanced her way.

"Please undertake a canvas of potential security camera's covering the building, especially the entrances" Sanchez nodded and replied.

"Kwang's on that now ma'am, it's not looking good, there's none in or on the building so she's checking other buildings that might have covered this one or the approaches" I smiled thinly for a moment, appreciating the thoroughness of the team, they all appreciated that it wasn't just me that was being judged, the dispersal of the former Robbery / Homicide team and the formation of a new one I'd personally selected had made waves and people were watching us closely

"May I ask where Lieutenant Jefferies is?" Sykes handled that.

"She and Riggs are running a search of the local area by uniformed officers, checking drains, dumpsters and such for any sign of the murder weapons of the missing body parts" I nodded, satisfied. Kyra Jefferies had come to us from the gang task force where she'd been very well regarded, while Martin Riggs was nothing like his Lethal Weapon movie namesake, he was quiet, softly-spoken, methodical and had come to us from Narcotics where he'd showed a hell of an ability to put clues together. Unfortunately he'd annoyed a few of the street gangs with his testimony at too many cases which had sent gangers away for long sentences, they'd made life hard on him and the rest of his squad so he'd asked for a transfer for his partner's sake, something I'd appreciated.

"Excellent" I thought about everything that I'd learned and wondered what I'd missed. Finally I glanced Sykes' way. "I understand that we have a report from the police who responded to the initial call out" They both nodded. "Please go over it with him one more time Detective Sykes; look for anything that might seem inconsistent, just in case" She nodded as I turned to Sanchez. "Sergeant, I'd like you to review the database, look for any similar deaths with a similar MO" He nodded as well, making notes.

"Oh lord" I looked up to see Jefferies standing there looking down at the victim. She shook her head and walked around the body to where we were standing. "Evening Commander, the search is underway; Riggs is out riding herd on the uni's" I nodded once.

"Thank you Lieutenant" She glanced back at the body and shook her head.

"I didn't see it all that well when I first saw it, in the lights now the vic looks like a body from a movie I saw once, lots of organs taken for some kind of bullshit Hollywood version of a voodoo ceremony, raising the dead or some such stupidity" I nodded, the lights Maura's team had set up turned night into day and left nothing to the imagination when it came to the extent of the injuries. Maura stood at that and turned, speaking clearly.

"I truly doubt that this is the case in this instance; while there are some minor elements of voodoo's Loa practices that use internal organs, the normal practice is to source them from chickens, the use of human organs would be unusual to put it mildly"

Sanchez and I nodded, Sykes looked thoughtful but Jefferies tipped her head and smiled, a little lopsidedly at Maura.

"No kidding Doc, unusual pretty much covers Los Angeles; this place is practically ground zero for weird ass fuc…stuff"

I nodded slightly once as she corrected herself, letting her know I'd caught her correction and appreciated it. Maura was far too important to be disrespected, certainly not by anyone in my team, I was glad I hadn't had to pull her up, knowing that Sanchez and Gabriel would have if I hadn't, a lot less politely than I would have too; I was just glad it wasn't necessary.

"Indeed Lieutenant, while unusual it is not impossible" Maura nodded politely. "I will look into the Loa practices of Voodoo further to see if there are similarities" I smiled, knowing I'd be in for a dissertation sometime tomorrow, Maura soaked up information like a sponge so I'd learn all I needed and probably a lot more besides. She looked my way and smiled.

"We have finished with the victim Commander, with your permission I will have the body removed to the lab, the autopsy reports will be on your desk by mid-morning" I smiled in response.

"Thank you Doctor, have a good night" At my words Maura smiled and nodded, addressing each of us.

"Lieutenant, Sergeant, Detective, good evening" With that she turned to oversee her team removing the body. Jefferies shook her head as she looked down at the body.

"I didn't get all that good a look at it when I got here, in the light now, gotta say that's really messed up" Sykes nodded agreeably as they watched as the M.E. started to move the victim into a body bag

"Real messed up" Ignoring Sykes words Sanchez caught my eye and grimaced, making me raise my eyebrow, asking the question. He shrugged as he spoke.

"Don't know which is worse, ma'am; the idea that there's some crazy rasta guy out there cutting people up for voodoo parts, or that it might be some fruitcake who's trying to make it look like voodoo" I nodded, understanding what he meant, seeing Jefferies nodding as well. Amy Sykes didn't though as I remembered she was the least experienced of us all so I explained our reasoning.

"While either is bad, the latter is worse, if it is voodoo-related the perpetrator is likely to have a definitive M.O. and a specific purpose for each organ removed, which provides a pattern" Jefferies nodded and chimed in.

"If it's some crazy who wants to make it look like voodoo, then that's a lot less predictable" Sanchez grimaced.

"Like Jefferies said, we're ground zero for crazies" He said, shaking his head as I nodded, bringing us back to the essence of the matter I spoke for all their benefits.

"Either way, Mrs Ortado is expecting us to avenge her, so it is up to us to get to the bottom of this"

We watched in silence as the body was lifted onto a gurney and wheeled out.


	8. Chapter 8

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **Chapter 08 Rescuing Cabenson Part 1: Bad News**

Jane's viewpoint

The day was getting late, most everyone else had left for the night, not Brenda and I though, for pretty similar reasons; she was waiting on Sharon to get back from the site of a murder, apparently a gang had hit the Hollywood Park Casino just as they were transferring money to an armoured car, it'd gone south when one of the security guards had tried to hit an alarm and been shot for it, that had led to a shootout that had left one of the criminals and the guard dead, the criminals on the run and a massive mess that was likely to keep her for god knows how long.

Meanwhile I was waiting on Maura, she'd caught an urgent autopsy; a washed-up old muso had been found dead in his condo with an empty bottle of heavy duty pain pills by his bed. While there were no suspicious circumstances to the death; the pills had been prescribed for a degenerative bone disease after all, he was still 'a person of note' in the LAPDs lexicon, that meant that while he hadn't had a hit since the late 80s he was still someone whose death the media were reporting on and thus it was up to the LAPD to deal with. That meant Maura was needed to pronounce the cause of death and rule out foul play, which in turn meant she was working back and so I was too.

The pile of paperwork in front of me had diminished considerably in the last few hours but I was looking forward to getting out of here, wondering how much longer Maura would be when my cell went off, the ring tone of the theme from the TV show Suits telling me it was Alex. A little surprised, I reached for it, wondering if she was calling to let me know Liv's birthday was coming up or something similar.

"Hi Alex, how are you?" There was silence for a few seconds before Alex's voice came through as I heard the slight hesitation there, when she spoke I could detect the hint of tears, the deep misery in her voice.

" _Jane, oh thank god you're there_ " I frowned, that didn't sound good, a call that started that way never was, so I immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

"Yeah, what's up, are you okay, is Liv?" Her voice seemed to calm a little on hearing me.

" _Not really, I didn't want to call you, Liv insisted I didn't but I, well we, need your help_ " I frowned, Liv didn't want what?

"Sure thing, what can I do?"

" _It's Liv, I came home tonight and found her sitting on the lounge in the dark, she had a glass of whiskey and her loaded gun in front of her, god Jane, I'm so scared, I can't lose her, not after everything_ " I sat back, stunned, Liv always went easy on the hard stuff, usually beer was it, her mother's horrible example acting as a deterrent, and a gun…? I needed more information.

"What's happened Alex? What's happened with Liv?"

" _It's a case she was involved in, a child sex slavery ring, they managed to close it, but more than a dozen kids died during it_ " I closed my eyes in pain for a moment, so many killed, that'd hit anyone hard, let alone Liv. Alex was still going on. " _The guy behind it was a Russian, ex KGB guy, he poisoned everyone he was involved with, if they didn't get the counter-poison they'd die in agony_ " Her words shook me, oh shit; this was like something out of a spy novel.

"I understand that'd hit her hard Alex, how can I help?"

" _Liv had to kill the Russian, he'd already shot Kate Beckett and was going to fire again_ " I frowned, Beckett was involved and she'd been shot? Oh my god what a cluster fuck that'd be; Liv and Kate were really close, ex-partners back on the beat and still good friend's years later. " _She fired and killed the man Jane, he took the poison antidote with him to the grave, everyone involved died, including all the remaining children_ " I felt my heart clench, I knew Liv, she was someone who lived for the victims, someone who fought tooth and nail to bring them closure, something like this would hit her hard, really hard. First things first though...

"Is Kate okay? How bad was it?"

" _She took a shot at close range into her vest but she had the trauma plate in, she was really badly bruised but okay_ " I sagged a little in relief, I really liked Kate, she was good people, now on to Liv.

"What about Liv, I understand that'd hit anyone hard, especially Liv, do you want me to talk to her? Maybe see if I can convince her to see someone maybe?" Alex shot that down.

" _It's worse than that Jane. A lot of the clients of this Russian were powerful people, they tried hard to bury the case, the Russian was dead, all the kids were dead, all the accomplices too, so they tried to bury it, someone in NYPD Internal Affairs took all the files and made them disappear_ " I ground my teeth, politics and powerful people, I'd run into that often enough to know that was never a good mix with a high profile investigation.

"Damn, how did Liv handle that?" I knew she'd take it badly but I needed to know how big a mess we were dealing with here. "Not well I know but how bad are we looking at Alex?" The response was worse than I thought.

" _She went to the media, passed her files over to them and they started investigating, now it's across the local press, the papers, television, radio, blogs, everywhere_ " I fell back in my chair in shock. Liv didn't have the best relationship with the media, few cops did really, so for her to go to them she must have been really desperate or angry, or both, probably both knowing her. Alex was still going. " _They can't prove anything but one of the deputy commissioners has vowed to destroy her, so he's turned IA loose on her_ " I shook my head, now I was really worried; Liv and the NYPD's Internal Affairs people had a long and bad history, they'd harassed her for years with nothing to show for it but had never stopped trying, this was a major disaster I realised as Alex continued. " _They're talking about sending her into admin Jane, they'll take her off investigations and have her shuffling paperwork_ " I frowned as I asked the question.

"Can they do that, I mean if they can't prove anything…"

" _The Deputy Commissioner, Thomas, he said because we were involved that she'd never go back to SVU, in fact she'd never work as a detective again, that she'd shuffle papers until he could break her_ " Alex's voice was desperate, no doubt she was blaming herself for somehow contributing to Liv's pain, as stupid as that thought was. " _He actually said that to her face. He threatened her to her face_ " She paused; I could hear the catch in her voice as she forced herself to keep going. " _After all the attempts on her life on this case, all she's done for the NYPD, they're hanging her out to dry_ " I frowned…attempts?

"Whoa, wait one Alex, back up; what happened, what attempts?" Alex paused, as if switching gears then started explaining.

" _The Russian guy they were chasing down, he organised a drive by attempt on her and her team, then when that missed he sent a bomb to the 12_ _th_ _Precinct addressed to Kate Beckett, they managed to get it out of the precinct just in time…_ " She paused as I sat there stunned, this was a horrific nightmare; Alex took a deep breath and pushed on. " _He came after each of the investigators, Kate and Liv and the others, car bombs mostly but because we weren't using ours an assassin attacked us here in our apartment, Liv fought it out with him and managed to kill him before he could kill us both, oh god Jane, it was horrible…there was blood everywhere…"_

I sat there stunned then ground my teeth, why hadn't they told us? I reined my emotions in, it sounded like they had way too many problems, too much else on their hands to deal with to worry about keeping us in the loop, based on what Alex had said staying alive had been a full-time preoccupation for both of them. They needed us now and that was the only thing that mattered.

"Alex, that's terrible, what can I...we, do to help?"

" _I don't know Jane, like I said, Liv's on medical leave, she had a kind of break down when the last of the children died, she couldn't function and I took her home, I've since learned that they're going to force her to have a psychological assessment, a rigged one they've already told her she won't pass, and even if she somehow did, they're going to dump her in admin_ "

I shook my head in disbelief; Liv Benson was an outstanding detective, to treat her like this… I had to do something. I spoke to Alex for a few more minutes, trying to calm her down and promising to be there as soon as I could, then headed straight downstairs to the morgue.

Five minutes later I was standing in the autopsy room, leaning back against the cabinets as Maura stood over the body of our aged rocker, having finished giving Maura an abridged version of what I'd got out of Alex. The shock on her face was replaced by a scowl that grew darker as I explained about the attempts to bury the case and the targeting of Liv after the story broke in the media. In a very un-Maura like manner she cut straight to the chase.

"How soon are you leaving?" I shrugged, having not quite caught up on that part of the plan.

"Don't know to be honest, as soon as I can get a flight I suppose, probably tomorrow morning sometime if I can get on an early flight" Maura just shook her head once then spoke, her voice carrying an unaccustomed harshness.

"Totally unacceptable, Liv and Alex need you as soon as possible, head home and pack a bag, I will arrange a flight for you, as soon as it is arranged I will text you the details" I looked up in surprise.

"Can you get me on a flight this late?" Maura looked at me, a small smile passing across her lips before it vanished as she replied.

"Oh yes, I will make sure you get there. I take it you are not going alone?" I blinked; _huh_?

"What do you mean?" She just tipped her head to regard me with widened eyes; that ' _I love you but you're being dumb_ ' look then spoke with quiet certainty.

"I will call Natalie and Anastasia; once I finish talking to them I am sure Anastasia will be joining you" I frowned in thought, it made sense but…

"I'm not sure she could get the time off" Maura paused for a moment, staring at me then spoke slowly, as if I was being particularly dense.

"Jane, think for a moment, what exactly do you think Anastasia's reaction would be if she found out you had kept this from her?" Maura shook her head once. "She would be furious, at the situation and you, for keeping her away, as you would be were the situation reversed" I grimaced; she was right on the money, again. "You need to let Brenda know you will be away for several days while I arrange transport" She shook her head angrily, something few people ever really saw as she looked down into the Y incision in the chest on the table. 'I cannot accompany you, there are some irregularities in this tox screen that are inconsistent with the supposed cause of death that I must follow up" Looking up she waved at me. "Go darling, Olivia needs you" With a quick hug and a kiss I was gone.

A little over two hours later, in possession of as much time off as needed courtesy of Brenda, as per Maura's texted instructions my taxi was turning into a private car park located on the south side of LAX off the Imperial Highway to find Nat's MGB waiting for me, her and Ana getting out as we pulled up. As I got out of the taxi I was greeted by Natalie who stepped up and wrapped me in a hug, hard, as she spoke into my ear.

"Oh god Jane, look after her, look after them both" I wrapped her in my arms and hugged her back as I nodded and spoke.

"I will; that's why we're going" She hugged me hard for a moment more then stepped back.

"You'd best be off then" I nodded as Ana walked over; a suit bag slung over one shoulder and a carryall in the other.

"Hi Jane, are you ready?" I nodded.

"Let me get my bags" I got the driver to pop the trunk and grabbed my suit bag and a sports bag, Maura had told us we might need a suit or two so I'd packed them as well. Pulling everything out I paid the driver and turned as he drove off. "We're supposed to meet a guy named Don Elford" Nat turned slightly and pointed to a lit glass doorway about forty feet away under a sign saying Pacific Aviation Services.

"I checked when we got here, he's through there" I nodded my thanks.

"Let's get this show on the road" I watched as Nat and Ana said their goodbyes, there was a lot of hugging and kissing before they broke apart as Nat turned to me.

"I'll be staying with Maura until you both get back" I nodded; it was exactly what I'd expected. "Please let us know what's happening over there, if there's anything we can do…" Her voice trailed off as I looked at her, taking in the worry visible there, Alex and Liv were as much family as friends to Nat, something I understood completely, we all felt the same way, I tried to reassure her.

"We will" Ana smiled and spoke

"I'll text you when we get in, whenever that is, it'll probably be late" Nat nodded.

"I don't care about the time, just stay in touch" Ana and I exchanged a look before Nat hugged us both again, then stepped back as we headed towards the building. Inside it looked like a terminal, much smaller but way more upmarket than the ones I was used to as I wondered what Maura had arranged, this sure wasn't a side of LAX I was familiar with. Ana glanced my way as we walked through.

"This is different" I looked round and hummed my agreement as a heavy-set Caucasian guy walked towards us. He held up his hand in a polite greeting as he approached.

"Ms Rizzoli? Ms Romanov?" We glanced at each other before Ana spoke.

"That's us, I'm Ana Romanov; this is Jane Rizzoli" He smiled as he replied.

"Oh good, I'm Don Elford from Elite Jets, we've been expecting you, the plane's this way" Ana and I exchanged another look as he turned and walked us through the terminal then looked back over his shoulder "Is that all the luggage you have?" I nodded once and spoke, a little defensively.

"Yeah, this was kind of laid on in a hurry" He nodded and smiled reassuringly as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

"I understand, we're used to this sort of thing, it happens all the time" He walked up to the door at the far end leading out into the actual airport where an attractive but serious-looking woman holding a clipboard was waiting, mid-30s I'd guess, slim, dark blonde hair in a bun wearing navy blue trousers and a pressed white shirt with four gold rings on her shoulders and a chunky chromed men's watch on her wrist. "This is your pilot, Sherri Anderson. Sherri, this is Ms Romanov and Ms Rizzoli" The woman nodded.

"Thanks Don" She turned to us. "Good evening ladies, I'll be your pilot tonight" We shook hands as she continued. "Before we start are either of you carrying any items from this check list?" She ran through a short list, mostly things explosive, toxic and the like, Ana spoke up as she finished the list.

"Both of us are law enforcement, we're both carrying pistols" Sherri nodded and spoke, a little apologetically.

"That's fine; could I see your police identification please?" A few seconds later she smiled as she checked both our proffered badges. "Excellent, now if you'd please follow me" She nodded at Elford and turned, opening the door and walking out into the night. Exchanging nods with Elford we made our way through the door he was holding, following Sherri we walked across an expanse of concrete as the sound of the big passenger jets hit us like a wave, she led us round to the left where a white-painted business jet waited for us, engines already running as flashing navigation lights strobed in the dark.

I came to a sudden halt and turned to look at Ana who was shaking her head then shrugged before she made an 'after you' gesture. Less than a minute later we were inside the plane being settled into luxurious seats by a pretty brunette flight attendant; her name was Tara, as Sherri disappeared into the cockpit. The seats were like nothing I'd ever experienced before on an aircraft; they were wide, soft, white leather lounge chairs, one on each side of the plane in two rows, plus a single seat and a row of three against the wall, the entire plane was done in white leather, grey shag carpet and wood grain.

Sherri re-appeared in the door from the cockpit, pushing a button which set off a whine; apparently the aircraft door was closing as the outside noise dropped off considerably. After securing the door she turned to look at us then stepped past Tara where she was hanging our suit bags in a closet and spoke.

"Hi ladies, on behalf of Elite Jets I'd like to welcome you aboard this Gulfstream G4. I'll be your captain tonight, together with first officer Byron Cummins while Tara will be looking after you during tonight's flight" The sudden increase in the jet engine noise was followed by a gentle shudder as the plane started moving. Sherri braced herself against the roof, nodded to herself and glanced at her watch. "I was advised you needed a quick trip to New York so we're slotting into the outbound queue, hopefully we'll be in the air shortly, with an estimated flight time of five hours 30 minutes" She smiled at Ana then I. "Do you have any questions?"

Oh I had questions all right, mostly around how Maura had organised all of this so quickly, though I had a feeling the answer involved a dollar sign followed by a whole lot of zeroes, not that I was going to ask that, not right now. Instead I glanced at Ana then spoke up.

"Which airport are we landing at, I mean how close to Manhattan are we going to be?" Sherri smiled and nodded.

"We'll be landing at La Guardia, which is the closest airport to Manhattan; I understand you're staying at the Ritz Carlton on Central Park so your car should have you there about twenty minutes after we land" I exchanged another glance with Ana who looked as lost as I was before I looked back at Sherri who must have understood my confusion; she reached out and handed across an envelope I hadn't noticed she was holding.

"These documents were emailed to the office a few minutes before you arrived, they contain all your travel documents" I took the envelope, marked with the Pacific Aviation Services logo and nodded, a little stunned, more of Maura's work I could tell. Finally I smiled up at her where she stood comfortably, one hand bracing against the aircraft's movement across the taxiways.

"Thank you" She smiled and indicated behind her.

"If you'll excuse me I'll head back and get us ready for take-off. You're in good hands with Tara; if you need something please just ask" We both nodded as Sherri turned and disappeared back up front as Tara fussed around us, making sure we were buckled in and asking if we wanted anything before we took off. We both asked for water, expecting a plastic bottle of water, instead we each got a bottle of Perrier poured out into a cut glass tumbler, I could get used to this but I really didn't want to know how much it was costing. With Tara settled into a seat behind us Ana leaned toward me, keeping her voice down.

"Damn Jane, how did Maura get all of this set up so quickly?" I shrugged, a little sheepishly.

"Probably rang someone who specialises in setting everything up stuff like this on little or no notice, for a fee" Ana nodded slowly, then shook her head once and settled back into her seat, glancing out the window as I turned in my seat to look back at Tara.

"Pardon me Tara; can I still make a call before we lift off?" She smiled as she replied.

"Of course, you just have to be in flight mode before we commence our take off roll" I nodded my thanks and looked out the widow, there were at least four or five big jets in line ahead of us, time enough to make my call. Maura picked up on the third ring.

" _Hello Jane, is everything all right?_ " I unconsciously nodded.

"Yeah, we're in the plane and waiting to take off, I just wanted to say thanks for everything, I mean the whole trip, the hotel, the cars, the plane for god's sake" Her voice was calm and certain.

" _I am pleased that Maurice was able to pull everything together so quickly, I will drop him a thank you note tomorrow_ " I nodded, Ana had been right, she'd organised this at the drop of a hat, or more likely the drop of a hell of a lot of money.

"Thanks babe, we'll be there in about 6 hours, give or take"

" _Take care Jane, please give my love to them both and please, stay in touch_ "

"Of course I will; Nat said she's staying with you while we're away"

" _Yes, I will join her when I finish here, which will likely be several hours more, fortunately Natalie will feed Bass and Jo_ " I frowned slightly.

"Uh, how will Nat get in?" The smile in Maura's voice came down the line clearly.

" _Natalie and Anastasia have had a key to our house for a very long time darling_ " I frowned.

"They do?" There was a small chuckle in my ear.

" _Of course, the same as we have a key to their apartment_ " I thought about it for a moment then shrugged; it made sense.

"Oh okay" I could hear the undertone of worry in Maura's voice as she spoke.

" _Please keep us informed Jane, if there is anything we can do, please call us immediately, at any time_ "

"I will" I glanced at Ana who was watching me and smiled a little. "Love you babe, and Ana sends her love to you both" I got a matching smile and a small nod as Maura replied.

" _I love you darling, we will chat soon_ "

"Yeah, we will, I'll ring you early in the morning LA time okay?"

" _I will await your call, please try and get some sleep on the plane_ " Unconsciously I nodded.

"We'll try. Night"

" _Good night Jane_ " with that the call ended and I looked over at Ana.

"You heard?" She nodded.

"Yep, now all we can do is get to New York"

I nodded and remembering the envelope, opened it to find a sheaf of papers. There was a limo that would meet us at La Guardia's private jet terminal and move us to the Ritz-Carlton, where we had a pair of adjacent Park View suites waiting for us. Maura had also arranged for an on-call town car service for as long as we needed it. I also couldn't help but notice that the paperwork didn't have any prices on any of them. As I finished reading I passed the papers across to Ana and dug out my phone again. A quick check confirmed that those rooms were close to a thousand dollars each and Maura had booked us in for five days.

On top of that there was the flight. I really didn't want to know how much it was costing but my curiosity got the better of me, a quick check showed that prices varied but Maura must have spent $30,000 or more on this flight.

For a moment my mouth went dry, so much money… With effort I got a grip, Maura could afford it and it was all for Liv and Alex.

I was still telling myself that when Tara appeared, checking our seatbelts and getting us settled before returning to her seat as the plane suddenly swung round onto the runway.

We stopped for a moment before the engines started roaring, the aircraft vibrating a little before the brakes released and the plane took off, far faster than I was used to on a commercial flight. As the nose came up and LA rapidly dropped away beneath us I put everything else out of my mind and focussed on the only thing that mattered.

' _Hold on Liv, we're on our way_ '


	9. Chapter 9

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **Chapter 09 Rescuing Cabenson Part 2: The Lowdown**

Jane's viewpoint

I awoke to Tara's light touch on my shoulder; our seats had folded out to make surprisingly comfortable beds, good enough that I'd managed a good couple of hours sleep. I nodded at her touch and smile, letting her know I was awake then watched her move to wake Ana, Tara still looked fresh as a daisy while I probably looked like crap.

Glancing at my watch I tried to work out the time but gave up, it was some god-awful way too early in the morning hour for civilised people to be up. I moved my seat upright and looked out the window, we were high above the clouds, high enough that I could see the sky ahead of us lightening up, dawn was coming.

I turned to look at Ana and got a low groan, making me smile as I took in her dishevelled hair and rumpled clothing.

"You look like I feel" She nodded slowly, not mincing words.

"Then you must feel like shit" Tara walked back from the front of the cockpit to tell us that we were about 25 minutes out and would be starting our descent soon. That was our cue to start getting cleaned up, first Ana then me making use of the surprisingly spacious bathroom, well spacious for a plane anyway, to get neat and tidy, a shower and fresh clothes could wait till we got to the hotel once we got back on the ground.

Not much more than an hour later we were checked into the hotel; I'd quietly marvelled at the size of the luxurious rooms and the magnificent view over Central Park before indulging in a long, hot shower, emerging feeling so much better. I sent a quick text to Maura letting her know we were here; it was way early in LA so I didn't expect a response for a while then got dressed, a few minutes later a knock on the door announced Ana, looking much better for the same reason I did. We ordered breakfast in and ate together, idly passing the time as the cable news ran in the background and we texted back and forward with Nat and Maura once they were up around eight our time, they were up early doing yoga, something Maura had got Nat into a while back.

Around eight I sent Alex a text, asking her to let us know when she was out of their apartment and on the way to her office, when her text came in we called the car service and headed for 1PP.

On arrival Alex had us directed up to her office where she invited us in, closed the door and practically collapsed into first Ana's and then my embrace; she was obviously completely worn out and emotionally exhausted. We talked for a little, mostly her thanking us over and over for coming to help before we headed out; as she said 'the walls have ears in here', making us both nod in understanding. She'd walked us a few doors down and introduced us to a pretty redhead named Casey, one of her co-workers, telling her she needed some time and could she cover for her. Casey nodded, smiled and told her of course and we headed out, washing up in a coffee shop a block and a half away. Alex was obviously well known here cause they knew her order off by heart.

Once seated in the back far from anyone listening in it all came out, a longer, more detailed version of the story I'd got last night and shared with Ana on the flight, it didn't get any easier in the retelling.

Basically Liv had been caught up in a horrible case; one involving young kids being brought into the country from Russia and pimped out by an ex-KGB agent, he'd quietly dosed the kids and everyone who worked for him with a fatal poison developed by the KGB back in the Cold War, one that was kept at bay by regular does of suppressant, surreptitiously delivered as 'medicine' for the kids and in 'free' vodka and other drinks to his employees. Liv and Kate Beckett had both become involved when two of the kids had died in their respective patches which had led to them working together as part of an inter-agency task force with the Bureau and the NYPD Crime Lab to shut it all down.

They'd succeeded but at a horrible cost; the Russian had fought back viciously, he'd tried sending a bomb to the precinct, drive-by shootings, car bombings, he'd even sent an assassin after Liv and Alex at their home. All had failed and they'd taken him down, Liv firing the fatal shot when he'd shot Kate and gone to do it again when her vest had stopped the first. Unfortunately the secret of the suppressant died with him and everyone the Russian had dosed died in agony, including all the kids.

Liv had taken it very hard, she'd already been running close to the edge after too many years in SVU, this case had been the final straw, made even worse when someone from IA had made the evidence disappear. With no one left alive to prosecute someone high up had wanted the case to go away and with all the evidence gone they couldn't continue with the case. Liv, outraged, had quietly dropped a briefing to a couple of journalists and they'd started their own investigation, resulting in them somehow getting their hands on the client list, something the NYPD hadn't got a sniff of. Naturally they'd published it and all hell had broken loose, especially as one of the clients, a now-dead client, had been a city councillor and a vocal supporter of the NYPDs ambitious Deputy Commissioner for Internal Affairs. That guy, Thomas had seen his ambitions to replace the current commissioner take a massive hit; now his supporter's disgusting activities were out in the open that very public endorsement was a millstone around Thomas' neck and he'd started looking for someone to blame.

Egged on by an old nemesis of Liv's from IA, a guy named Tucker, the Commissioner had decided that Liv was to blame for the media story, despite having no evidence, and had sworn to break her, he was forcing her to take a rigged psychiatric assessment, one that would find her unfit to be a cop, once that result was in Liv had been promised that she would be dumped in the shittiest hole they could find in admin, shuffling meaningless paperwork until they could find a way to have her fired, though Tucker was looking for a way to have her thrown in prison, he was apparently obsessed with proving Liv was crooked, I had to repress a snort at that, ' _as if_ '.

It was a long and harrowing tale and I found myself exchanging glances with Ana as Alex laid it out, I knew exactly what she was thinking; ' _I never want a case like that_ ', cause I was thinking exactly the same. Finally Alex wound down, explaining that Liv had taken it all very hard, even worse when the IA guy, Tucker, had told her that everyone involved in the investigation, Liv, Kate, their team, the crime lab guys, Alex, they were all going to suffer for what had happened, for being even peripherally involved in the case. I shook my head at that little piece of news, he was obviously a vindictive bastard, one I'd love to get my hands on for all the grief he'd given Liv and Alex.

In all we spent well over an hour there, both of us giving Alex exactly what she needed, a friendly, sympathetic ear, an occasional shoulder to cry on and a promise that we'd do whatever we could to help fix this. Finally she had to get back, she was appearing in court that afternoon so we parted with a lot of hugging, Liv might be in worse shape but Alex was running pretty ragged right now as well. With Alex on her way we sat and chatted for a couple of minutes, discussing our next move before agreeing we needed to hear more of the case from someone involved so, after a quick, explanatory call, we were on our way to the 12th precinct.

Kate Beckett and Rick Castle met us at the entrance and after quick hugs all round took us upstairs and we grabbed a conference room where Kate started running us through the case from her perspective while Rick made us all coffees, I had a feeling I was going to be buzzing by the end of the day, what with all the coffee I had on board.

Kate knew Liv had taken it hard but wasn't aware of just how hard; when we explained why we'd dropped everything and flown cross-country she shook her head as she spoke.

"My god, why didn't she call me, I was right here?" Before I could speak Rick cut across her, obviously equally shocked at what'd happened but thinking quickly.

"I don't know Liv as well as you do, but from what I've seen she either was ashamed she wasn't handling it that well and didn't want to 'bother you'…" He put it in finger quotes. "…with her problems; or she thought that telling you would somehow make you feel like you were responsible" I exchanged a glance with Ana, his summation was pretty damned good actually, we'd come to much the same conclusion. Kate though was shaking her head.

"I'd never do that" she said plaintively as she looked around the table. "You know that, you all do; besides she did what she had to do, I'm alive right now because of it" I nodded as Ana spoke up.

"Yeah, we know, but its Liv we're talking about here, that woman carries the weight of the world on her shoulders"

"And more than a decade in SVU as well" I interjected. "That'd break anyone" I shook my head ruefully. "I couldn't do that job" Kate frowned.

"Me either" She glanced round the table, taking us all in. "She's always been reluctant to let others help carry her burdens, always has been" she commented then cut to the chase. "How do we help her?" Ana and I exchanged another glance before she nodded, telling me to go on.

"That's only half the issue" I saw Rick and Kate exchange a look and a frown before Rick looked back at me and spoke up.

"It's bad enough and you're saying it's worse?" We quickly explained the whole mess with Thomas and Tucker as both their faces darkened in anger.

"How in hell is Tucker still wearing a badge?" said Kate "I was here when our Captain arrested him for god's sake, he should have been suspended at the least, more likely fired" I shrugged as I replied.

"He has friends in high places, this Thomas guy for one" Kate's jaw tightened before she pushed that to one side.

"He'll get what's coming to him sooner or later but the important thing is Liv; what do we do?"

We talked over options for a long while, Rick was all for going straight to the mayor but we asked him to hold off on that, as I said, that was the nuclear option which would bring massive fallout for everyone, we'd save that for the last resort. Rick nodded, unhappy but seeing our reasoning then asked the million dollar question.

"What will you do?" Ana handled that, shrugging as she replied.

"Don't know, if we can't fix things here then the next step is to help her get out from under this Thomas guy, somewhere where this Tucker character can't screw her over" Kate's face darkened.

"I'd heard about him from Liv but I had no idea he was as bad as he turned out, he behaved like an obsessed whacko when he turned up here" She shook her head. "I thought he'd be out on his ear after a personal complaint from our Captain to the Commissioner, god knows how he dodged that" Ana shrugged.

"He's apparently turned up as personal hatchet man for this Thomas guy" Ana shrugged, a disgusted look on her face as she continued. "Birds of a feather and all that"

"I had no idea Thomas had gone after Liv" Kate said. "I mean the media's story wasn't from us, we sure as hell didn't know about the client list" We nodded as Castle spoke up.

"And Thomas should have kept better company than a paedophile" He shook his head. "That endorsement from Syme is going taint him, no matter what denials he tries to make" I nodded as he continued. "That sort of mud is the kind that doesn't wash off easily"

"Yeah but Thomas has got it into his head that Liv was the leak, even though there's no evidence that she was" I said as Kate frowned darkly before replying.

"That's probably Tucker's work, he's been after Liv for years, he's convinced himself that Liv's dirty and she's just managed to keep it well hidden; he's desperate to take her down do so you can bet he was pushing Thomas to go after her" I nodded then pointed something else out that Alex had relayed this morning.

"If Tucker replaces Gates as Captain here he's going to come after you Kate" Rick's voice was suddenly cold, far more than I've ever heard before.

"Not if I have anything to do with it, and I do" He looked to Kate. "I'll hold off on calling the Mayor for now, but if Tucker even looks like a chance at replacing Gates then all bets are off" Kate nodded slowly then looked at us.

"That's for the future, what the hell do we do for Liv and Alex now?" I shrugged.

"We try and find them a way out from under all this shit" Kate nodded.

"Anything you need from us, just ask" she said as Rick backed her up.

"Anything at all" I smiled. Liv was really lucky to have friends like Kate and Rick; they cared, just like we did, then spoke up.

"Thanks, we'll keep in touch" Rick looked round the table.

"So what's next?" I checked my watch; seeing it was close to noon as Ana replied.

"We go talk to the woman in question"

Another trip, filled with texting to Maura and Nat, keeping them in the loop and we were knocking on the door to Liv and Alex's apartment, the doorman there remembered us from previous visits and confirmed that Liv was in, we asked him not to call her, telling him we were here to surprise her and he smiled as he called the elevator.

"Miss Benson will be pleased to see you ladies; she's not been herself lately" We couldn't but agree with that assessment.

A short ride later we were knocking on the door to Liv and Alex's condo, the look on her face when it opened made everything; the late night flight, the messed up time zones, the whole reason we were here, everything completely worthwhile

"What…what are you…I mean…how did you get here?" Ana was quicker off the mark.

"We walked, all the way from LA you silly bitch" I grinned and piled on.

"Yeah, my feet hurt so the least you can do is get us in for a coffee" She looked a little poleaxed, giving me time to take her in, she looked tired, her complexion was a little sallow, she didn't look all that great, completely understandable really given everything we'd heard.

"Coffee, sure, I mean yeah, come on in" She stood back from the door but I shook my head.

"Hug first, then coffee" We fell into a hug, it was her usual strong one; Liv was a lot stronger than me; what with all that weights work she did. Finally I stepped back to have my place taken by Ana, it went on for a few seconds before they finally stepped apart as Liv looked back and forward between us.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy to see you but…here, now?" I played it off with a toss of my head, using Ana's term.

"We heard some silly bitch had got into trouble and decided to drop in" Liv got it in seconds, her face running from shock to suspicion to understanding to resolve.

"Alex called you" I shrugged as Ana walked past her towards the kitchen looking for the coffee machine; she was the trained barista after all, calling back over her shoulder.

"She had to cause you were too dumb to call" Liv's face started to look indignant.

"I didn't want to drag you into my mess" I walked past her as well, momentarily ignoring her comment and heading towards the kitchen, Ana was already getting the machine switched on as I started looking for the coffee, calling back to her.

"Too late, your mess is our mess" Liv followed us towards the kitchen as she spoke.

"This shouldn't be your problem" At that I threw her a filthy look.

"It is, so deal with it" I saw Liv shake her head, she was obviously still in the 'it's all my fault, all my burden' mindset.

"Alex shouldn't have bothered you…" Ana rounded on her for that.

"Bothered us? Is that what you call it when we find out our sister's buried in shit up to her nose and sinking and is too damned pig-headed to call for help?" Ana shook her head. "I call that common damned sense" I dived in as well.

"Yeah, why didn't you call us earlier, and if you say the word bothered again there's no coffee for you" Ana wouldn't let it go.

"And as for Alex calling us, that was a cry for help" She pointed a finger at Liv, her normal easy-going manner deadly serious for a moment. "Do not ever criticise Alex for caring, otherwise you and me, we'll be having an unpleasant discussion, understand me?" Liv recoiled for a moment then stared at Ana, obviously shocked at seeing this side of her come out then nodded slowly before she spoke.

"I mean I'm really glad to see you, it's good to see you both, but why did you come all the way out here?" Ana turned her attention back to the coffee machine as I replied.

"Apparently you got on someone's shit list and they're looking at canning you" I shrugged as I found the coffee beans and the grinder next to them. "It seemed like a good time to visit" She nodded at that summation and explained.

"Yeah, I pissed off the Internal Affairs Commissioner of the NYPD; basically I fucked up his chances of replacing the current Commissioner at the next election and he demanded a scapegoat. Guess who?" I set the grinder up and poured in the beans.

"Nice trick, how'd you manage that?" The next few seconds were filled with a harsh grinding sound and all conversation stopped as the beans got ground down to a fine powder. Stopping the machine I handed the grounds over to Ana as Liv spoke.

"I talked to Andrea Sachs, you remember her?" she asked as I nodded, Miranda Priestly's partner, I was hardly going to forget that night; it had been all kinds of surreal. I saw Ana nodding from where she was tamping down the coffee for the machine as Liv continued. "I passed the details of the case that we had to Andrea and two other journo's from a tv station and another paper. The Department was burying the story and sweeping everyone who died under the rug, including all those kids" Liv pulled a face and continued telling her story. "I couldn't stomach that so I passed what I had over to Andrea and the others" She shrugged. "They somehow managed to get their hands on the client list and that was it, some of the city's high society movers and shakers were on that list, including some supporters of that Deputy Commissioner" I shook my head, half admiringly, half in stunned disbelief.

"Damn girl, you don't do things by half measure do you?" Ana was quick on my heels, looking up from the espresso machine.

"Screwing over the rich and famous, all in a day's work for Olivia Benson" Liv looked down at our words, her voice subdued.

"That wasn't my intention, I just wanted people to know, that these kids died and deserved more than being swept under the carpet and forgotten" I nodded, I knew Liv, her concern for the victims was everything to her. Hell in her place, faced with the same situation I might have done the same thing.

Ana was quick and efficient, I ground the beans and she turned them into steaming cups of goodness, quickly cleaning up we ended up sitting round the dining table as Liv walked us through the case, explaining just how messed up it had been and making it very clear why she'd been driven to talk to the media when the NYPD brass tried to bury it.

An hour later we were knocking down another round of coffees as we moved from the depths of Liv's mess to the salient question.

"So how do we fix this so he can't fuck you up?" Ana said making Liv shrug as she spoke.

"Hell if I know, I turn up for that psyche evaluation and its game over, with that in his pocket he can force me into admin, I'll never be a cop again with an adverse finding in my file" I nodded.

"So we need to get you out from under him before you get screwed" I said.

"Yeah, but I can't give him an excuse to go after Alex or Kate or the others" said Liv, once again more concerned for the others than herself. I glanced over at Ana and saw her nod slowly, her eyes distant.

"Let's see what we can do"

"We have to be careful" Liv temporised. "If I quit I'll never work in law enforcement again, then what do I do?" She glanced from Ana to me and back again as she spoke. "Sure Alex is rich but I can't live off her money, I have to work; you know I do" I nodded; knowing exactly where she was coming from, I felt the same way about Maura's money. "If I duck the evaluation without a medical certificate, they've got me there and the doctor they've forced me to go to if I'm feeling sick is in Thomas' pocket" Liv said. "He'll insist I'm well enough to attend the psyche assessment no matter what so that way is closed off too" We nodded and I spoke.

"And if you don't turn up I suppose they get you too?"

"Yeah, failure to attend is grounds for disciplinary action" Liv said, grimacing like she'd just tasted something foul. "Guess where that leads?" We both nodded slowly at that, understanding how tight the box she was in actually was.

"Can you take leave?" It was Ana. "Get away out of New York before the evaluation" She shrugged. Bit hard to hassle you if you're in Kenya or New Zealand or Nepal or somewhere far from here. That buys you some time at least" I thought that over as Liv explained why that wouldn't work, indicating the letter directing her to take the evaluation lying on the table where it had ended up after we'd both read it.

"If I don't turn up after that was delivered, then I'm up for disciplinary charges, and if I skip the country, I'll return to find a letter waiting for me telling me I'm unemployed"

"So we need a way to get you out from under this stitch-up that's NYPD sanctioned" Ana frowned before pushing on. "What about being sent to attend a conference or course somewhere? That would buy us some time" Liv however shot that down.

"I doubt there's anything available in time, besides I'd need to get approval and the bureaucracy in the NYPD runs really slowly for that sort of thing, it's usually got to be approved a month or more in advance" She shook her head. "Way too slow to be any use here"

We kicked the issue back and forward for a two more coffee's, not realising that it was getting late until Alex's arrival told us it was after six. Despite all the coffee's I was starting to drift a bit and I could see Ana was also starting to flag. Alex ordered in a delivery of pretty good Italian that we consumed over a quiet table as we deliberately talked about inconsequential things, the day's events tabled for the moment; they were both worn out and we were looking at crashing early as the hours and travel caught up with us. Finally we called the car service and headed downstairs to wait for it, not without a round of hugs and a few tears all round as we headed out.

The car was only a couple of minutes away but it gave us some time to talk privately for the first time since we'd arrived at Liv's.

"She's in a bad way, well both of them are, but Liv's a mess" she said. I nodded as I looked around the vicinity, a cop habit, noting Ana was doing the same.

"At least we got her to stop thinking she has to take the fall for everyone else" I said; that had been Liv's plan, take her lumps as Thomas' fall guy to protect the others, neither of us believed that would protect them though, Thomas and Tucker sounded like first class pricks, both obviously vindictive as hell.

"So how the hell do we get them out from under this?" Ana said, looking my way for a second.

"We need to get Liv out of New York in a way that's officially sanctioned that doesn't involve this Thomas guy and his attack dog"

"Tall order" Ana said as I saw what looked like our car approach, flashing its lights once to notify us; I nodded that way.

"That looks like us" It pulled up and we piled on in, asking the driver to take us back to the hotel and settling back as he died back into the traffic before we picked up again. "If things were better back in Boston I'd suggest that, it's not too far away from New York, but my relationship with my old Lieutenant isn't the best, and while the Captain, Marquette, would give me a hearing he's not high enough to get her in without Liv's records" Anna nodded and agreed.

"I'd thought of suggesting the Bureau, but they have an almighty stick up their ass when it comes to records and proper procedure and they wouldn't move fast enough to be of any use anyway" I grimaced then looked her way.

"What about the LAPD? I mean Sharon and Brenda would support it" Ana just shook her head sadly.

"You don't think I hadn't thought of that?" she said as I nodded, of course she had, and she was probably going to shoot it down for the same reason's I'd already thought of.

"I know" I said sadly. "Even with their help the department's bureaucracy won't look at hiring her without full records, plus they'd take too long even if we could somehow get around the records issue, that'd mean Thomas can screw her over, I mean the assessment's next week"

"The bastard's done a wonderful job of boxing her in, we don't really have enough time for a transfer and she can't quit and try another force because of her…" Ana suddenly went silent, making me look at her sharply, seeing it she held her hand up in the universal 'stop, wait' sign. She must have been thinking for almost 30 seconds before she spoke.

"I have an idea?" I nodded; I kinda hoped so after all that waiting.

"Well don't keep it all to yourself, what is it?" She suddenly got a cagy look on her face, like she'd just found a way out of this mess, making me peer at her suspiciously.

"We need to get them out of New York on official business right?" she said as I nodded slowly.

"Yeah"

"Something that this Thomas guy can't fuck up" At that I just gave her the ' _get on with it_ ' look as she smiled, slow and happy then posed a question. "How did you get out of Boston?"

I sat there for a few seconds, thinking through her words; what she was implying, it couldn't be that easy, could it? Feeling some hope start to rise I looked up at her, seeing the excitement dancing in her eyes.

"Can we make it work?" She shrugged and spoke.

"Can't see why not, we just need to light a fire back home to get the ball rolling ASAP" I nodded, feeling a smile start to break out before I dragged myself back into line. It was way too early to declare victory here. We didn't have time to waste if we were going to make this happen in time. I reached for my cell as I looked at her and spoke

"Let's get moving, we both have calls to make"


	10. Chapter 10

As always, the characters here are the creation of their respective rights holders and the wonderful actors and actresses who bring them to life for us. Thanks for letting us play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **10 Rescuing Cabenson Part 3: Alex's day**

Alex's viewpoint

After a night where I'd slept like the dead wrapped in Liv's arms, I'd managed to drag myself out of bed at six to find a text from Jane waiting for me on my cell, it'd been sent early this morning. It said that Liv's old partner Kate Beckett would be spending the day with Olivia, getting her out of the apartment and keeping her occupied while they ' _got things organised_ '.

I had no idea what they were planning, I hadn't had a chance to talk to them much privately last night but based on this rather cryptic text they seemed to have a plan. I just had to place my trust in them to help us. Normally I'm a bit of a detail and control freak, but this time I'd have to leave things in their hands, to be honest I was just too tired to fight it all right now.

I chased Liv out of bed and into the shower, making sure she was dressed and ready when Kate arrived at eight. Kate looked lovely as always, all long legs and long hair, but her eyes were sad, just for a moment, as she reached out and dragged me into a hug, just holding me for a minute as I sagged into her arms, her hands rubbing small circles on my back as she wrapped me in her embrace.

Kate had known Liv since they were both beat cops together ages ago, they'd lost track of each other over the years but since we'd reconnected earlier this year they'd spent a lot of time together, making them both very happy. Her partner, the writer Richard Castle, was a great guy, as Kate happily admitted to us he was the best thing to ever happen for her. They were wonderful people and good friends, we loved them both dearly.

It occurred to me that I'd had more hugs from anyone other than Liv in the past 24 hours than I'd had in ages, since the last time in LA actually; Jane, Ana and now Kate, all there for us, we were so lucky to have friends like this. Finally I stepped back as she looked at me, compassion in those beautiful hazel eyes.

"Hey Alex, how are you doing?" I smiled, though I knew it wasn't my best effort.

"Better for seeing you, thank you for coming" She smiled back, her face lighting up.

"Hey, anything for you both, I'm just sorry I didn't know earlier" I nodded. That damned case had hurt everyone involved with it, Liv may have taken it hardest but Kate and the other officers handling the case had all been damaged in one way or other by it.

"Thanks for being here, I really appreciate you taking a day off for us" She smiled, a little sadly and then shook her head.

"It wasn't a problem" she said. "I have so much unused time and no currently pressing cases that my captain wasn't going to say no" I just smiled at her, feeling the first tears in my eyes. Kate reached up before I could and wiped them away with her thumbs. "It's ok Alex, really it is. It'll be all right" I nodded once, uncertainly, before stepping back out of the doorway.

"Look at me; I haven't even invited you in. I'm so sorry, please come in" She smiled again, stepping in and turning to me as I closed the door and asked. "Do you know what Jane's planning?" Kate shook her head.

"Not really, all they told me when they called last night to ask me to come over was that they had a bunch of phone calls to make and some people to see today" I nodded.

Leading her down the hall we walked in to see Liv making a coffee. On seeing Kate her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in stunned surprise before they fell into each other's arms. Finally separating, we chatted for a few minutes before I had to excuse myself to go to work, assured that Liv couldn't be in better, safer hands.

Arriving at at 1PP, I walked into my office to find a warm coffee in a take-out thermal cup from my favourite café just up the road from work, the notation on the lid telling me it was made just the way I like it, 'double shot espresso with soy, no sugar' together with a blueberry bagel and a post-it note sitting on my keyboard in Jane's slightly spidery handwriting

' _Something to keep you going till later, don't worry, we're on the case. Everything will be fine_ _._ _J & A_'

For a moment I stood there shocked, as I wondered how; how they knew my coffee order, what bagel I liked, how they'd got past security and into my office, everything, then remembered we'd been in there yesterday talking. They were both detectives, they noticed things, even the smallest ones, even things as small as how I took my coffee.

Finally I shook my head, sat down and smiled, sipping my coffee; it may not have been as hot as I normally took it but the warmth that it gave me inside more than made up for it. Jane Rizzoli was quite simply an amazing woman and Anastasia Romanov; well she was pretty special too. For the first time I actually felt like we might come out of this ok, they both just made you feel more confident for being there, knowing they were on our side and looking for a way to help us both. I sat there for a moment, feeling a wave of emotion wash over me; they'd dropped everything at my call, flown overnight across the country to be here, to help us, all without a thought, just because we needed them. I don't know what they'd come up with, they obviously had a plan in the works but somehow I knew it was going to turn out alright.

With a shake of the head I turned to the stack of case files in front of me, Casey Novak had picked up a lot of my casework in the past few days while I'd been otherwise occupied; another person I owed so much for all her help, but I still had a pile of work only I could do. I'd barely started when I received a text from Ana.

' _Stay close to your desk and expect some calls, we have an exit_ ' Barely comprehending it the first time, I re-read it four or five times, hope rising each time, though it raised more questions than it answered. An exit, how? I mean they'd been in New York barely 24 hours, how had they managed to come up with a solution? What had they found, what had we missed? I was all for snapping off a quick reply demanding more info when another message arrived. ' _Give it some time :)_ '. I swore crossly then grimaced.

"Damn!" Talk about cryptic. I frowned at the message; something was happening, I didn't know what but I'd just have to wait and see what it was. To get my mind off it I dived into the work, losing myself in it to be honest, so much so that it was almost 1pm before I knew it and I was starting to feel hungry when the phone rang.

"Cabot"

" _Good morning Alex, this is Sharon Raydor_ " I blinked, Sharon? Sharon Raydor? Belatedly I remembered my manners.

"Good afternoon Sharon, it's lovely to hear from you. Are you and Brenda both well?"

" _We're both fine thank you, Brenda asked me to pass on her regards_ " I smiled gently; they'd been wonderful company every time we'd visited Los Angeles, we liked them both and Jane and Maura thought the world of them, so did Natalie and Ana.

"That's wonderful, it's good to hear from you, really it is" I could hear the smile in that cool clear voice.

" _Hopefully I can make it even better. We had a phone call from Ana and Jane last night, bringing us up to date on what had happened_ " I frowned a little, confused, they'd called Brenda and Sharon? What? Why? I realised I need to say something and managed a reply.

"I'm sorry Sharon; you shouldn't be bothered with this, it's our problem really" She wasn't buying that.

" _Nonsense Alex, we're happy to help, both of us are. Now we've made a few calls this morning and I think we can help you both_ " I bit my lip for a moment, puzzled, how could they help all the way over in Los Angeles? My voice sounded tentative, even to my ears.

"Yes?"

" _I've just got off the phone from Andrea Hobbs at the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. You should be getting a call from her shortly_ " I frowned. Andrea Hobbs? I recalled the name being mentioned by Jane but I hadn't met her, Sharon was still speaking. " _Andrea will be calling to confirm a twelve month secondment to the Los Angeles DA's office as an ADA for you, starting as soon as you can get out here_ " I stared at the receiver, dumbfounded, ADA in Los Angeles? I heard Sharon's voice again. " _Are you there Alex?_ " Her voice jerked me out of my reverie.

"Yes, I'm here Sharon, I'm sorry, I'm still processing everything, I'm not sure what to say" There was the ghost of a chuckle down the line.

" _Say yes. That's what Andrea will want to hear when she rings_ " My head spun for a moment, working in Los Angeles, it'd be a new start, but Liv?

"It sounds wonderful Sharon, but what about Liv?"

" _Brenda will be calling your Captain Cragen right a_ _bout_ _now, offering Olivia a secondment to Major Crimes. I have no doubt she'll succeed in convincing him it's a good idea. For all of her occasional personality issues…_ " I could hear the deep affection in her voice. _"…she can be very charming and very, very persuasive when it's something important_ " I fell back against the chair, feeling like I'd just been poleaxed. Sharon waited, she must have realised that she'd just dropped a very, very big bombshell.

"But Sharon… how? I mean, Jane and Ana only got here yesterday… It must be only just after nine out there" There was a pause on the line then her voice came to me, soft and quiet.

" _A few days ago, someone reminded me that Brenda and I are supposed to be the most powerful women in Southern Californian law enforcement. We decided that we might as well put that to work for us for once, for something important, something that matters_ " I nodded, and then had a sudden, stricken, thought.

"I'll have to talk to my boss here, he's not going to take it well" Sharon's voice was soothing.

" _I believe that's already being taken care of, you'll probably get a call from him later this morning, but I believe that Ana will be chatting to him soon, if she isn't already_ " I nodded slowly, still taking it all in.

"I see…" Sharon's voice was warmly soothing.

" _Don't worry Alex, between your friends there and here, we'll make sure it turns out all right_ " I heard her voice change, becoming brisker. " _Andrea will be calling soon, so I'd better get off the line. I'm sure that everything will work out fine Alex. Brenda and I both want you out here as soon as you can_ " She paused for a, moment the continued, her voice softer. " _I know it's not what you're used to or what you were expecting, you'll need to uproot yourself and relocate here, but we all agreed that a chance for a new start and getting Olivia away from_ _Special Victims_ _and New York for a while is a good thing_ " I sat there, feeling the first hint of tears in my eyes.

"Thank you Sharon, thank you so much…and thank Brenda too; I really don't know what to say" Sharon must have heard it in my tone; her words and voice were both warm and reassuring.

" _Alex, you have friends here, given what we've been told_ _,_ _well_ _being out_ _here_ _in_ _with_ _your_ _friends, together with the change of scenery and environment, I think it might help fix the situation_ "

"Thank you Sharon, thank you so much for everything you've done" I heard her voice change, a smile in it.

" _Just get yourselves out here as soon as you can, god knows we need another_ _top notch_ _ADA and Brenda's always moaning about not having enough_ _good_ _detectives. Anyway Andrea will be calling so I'll let you go but we'll chat soon enough_ " I smiled, though I felt like crying.

"Thank you Sharon, bye"

" _Bye Alex, give our best to Olivia and we'll see you soon_ " I smiled as I replied.

"And our love to you and Brenda"

" _I will; bye_ "

Hanging up, I sat back, still trying to get my thoughts and emotions under control. I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me, I was desperately struggling to retain my balance and emotional equilibrium. Relocation to the far side of the country, a new job, for both of us, a chance to be together, doing what we're both good at, but also a new start. We'd have to walk away, from our friends here, all that we'd built here together, in a way it was like witness protection all over again. I'd keep my name but I'd be starting afresh, all over again, just like before.

I concentrated on breathing, forcing myself to calm down, getting myself back under control. This wasn't about me; it was about Liv, giving her a chance to start again, a chance to heal the damage that more than a decade in SVU and that damned case and that bastard Lysenko had done to her. Plus she'd escape Internal Affairs' vendetta, Thomas and Tucker both.

Relocating to LA; every time we'd gone out there it'd been wonderful, surrounded by friends, far from the stresses and history and bad memories of our time with SVU, would it be like that if we were living there? I sat still for a moment as I contemplated it then smiled gently. Of course it would, we'd be together, somewhere together with people we loved and who loved us just as much, all our friends.

I sat there for a moment as the enormity of what people were doing for us, for Liv, hit me. This had all been put together so quickly, I still couldn't understand how they'd done it on what seemed like a moment's notice. I was startled out of my reverie by the phone ringing, on instinct my usual greeting came out.

"Cabot"

" _Ah good morning, I'm Andrea Hobbs; I'm with the DA's office here in Los Angeles. I understand Sharon Raydor has spoken to you?_ " I sat up a little straighter.

"Hello Andrea, yes, Sharon rang me only a short while ago" The smile came through the line.

" _Excellent that should save some time Alex. May I call you Alex?_ " Unconsciously I nodded.

"Please, how can I help?"

" _You can answer a few questions; I need them to fill in the paperwork_ "

"Paperwork?" Andrea must have heard the questioning tone.

" _Of course, I can't believe for a minute that we have less paperwork than you do over there_ " I smiled, relieved in a way to be faced with something as mundane as red tape.

"I doubt it; legal bureaucracies are the same pretty much anywhere" I could hear the answering smile in her voice.

" _Very likely; so basically I just need to fill in the job application paperwork then walk it up to my boss who'll sign off on it, then down to HR and get it underway_ " My mind froze for a moment. Job application… Frantically I tried to drag myself back into the game.

"I'm sorry Andrea, it's just that it's all so fast" I heard a dry chuckle down the line.

" _You're not wrong; I've never seen the bureaucracy in the LAPD or this place move so fast in all the years I've been here_ " I couldn't help it, I had to ask.

"Andrea, how, I mean, it's still morning there, how…" Andrea was silent for a moment before finally, she spoke, her voice quiet.

" _Alex, Sharon Raydor's been with the LAPD for over fifteen years, Brenda Leigh Johnson for eight. In that time neither of them has ever asked the DA's office for anything, not a favour, not a personal request, nothing. So when I got the call last night, how could I possibly say no, even if I wanted to?_ "

"But you know nothing about me, I might not have been what you want" Andrea's voice strengthened.

" _Possibly, but I've been on the phone this morning to your_ _old_ _boss Liz Donnelly_ _who put me on to J_ _udge Petrovski. Both of them provided glowing references_ " I was stunned, she'd already spoken to Liz, to Lena? ' _Oh my god_ '. Andrea was still speaking. " _If I didn't know better I'd say you walk on water_ " I couldn't help it, I laughed, possibly with a slightly hysterical edge to it.

"Only on good days Andrea, only on the good ones" Her voice in return was light.

" _Seriously Alex, if you're only half as good as they say, well New York's loss is our gain_ "

"Andrea, I trying to catch up here, I mean it's all happened so fast" She must have heard the tinge of something a little brittle in my voice as her voice sobered.

" _I understand, but my boss was prepared to listen when I walked into his office first thing this morning, when he called Chief Pope and got the word from him that they were going to offer the Major Crimes secondment to Sergeant Benson he knew it was going to happen. Pope told him if we didn't snap you up he'd offer you a job as in-house counsel but given your track record that'd be a waste of your talents_ " I shook my head, this was leaving me a little disorientated.

"I really don't know what to say Andrea..." Her voice was calmly reassuring.

" _I know Alex,_ _it's all happening at light speed compared to how things normally work round here b_ _ut when those two insist something needs to happen, well it happens_ " I felt my control starting to slip again, everything they'd done for us… " _In fact it happened even faster over at the LAPD, according to my usually reliable sources in headquarters_ " My curiosity piqued, I just had to know.

"Oh?" I could hear the slight trace of something, surprise maybe, in Andrea's voice.

" _Yeah,_ _the water cooler chatter over at headquarters is in meltdown over this,_ _Brenda dropped the secondment paperwork on Chief Pope's desk first thing this morning. He took one look at it, plus the list of endorsements and just signed it_ _, no questions asked_ _. He knew better than to argue about it_ _anyway_ " My head was spinning; everything was happening so damned fast as I tried to keep up.

"Endorsements?" Andrea's voice was full of warm humour.

" _Hell yes, head of Robbery Homicide, the head of Force Investigation, the Chief Medical Examiner, the LAPD Media Manager, the Department's FBI Liaison Officer and the DA's office,_ _all_ _in addition to Brenda's name on the bottom of the paperwork_ " I felt myself choking up as the enormity of what was happening hit me, Andrea must have been surprised at the silence as her voice came from the phone.

" _You there Alex, you ok?_ " I nodded while I fumbled for a tissue.

"I'm here Andrea, I'm sorry, it's just…I mean I'm just overwhelmed" Her voice was kind with a smile behind it.

" _I know it's a lot in a short time, but everyone got the message. With all that firepower behind it, it all fell into place; everyone basically understood; get behind the request, get out of the way or get run over. HR took one look at the_ _endorsement_ _list_ _plus Chief Pope's signature_ _and_ _the only thing Candace Morrell, the head of HR, could do was_ _ask_ _when Olivia_ _would be_ _start_ _ing_ " I sat there, nodding as I tried not to cry and failed. So many people, going out of their way to help us, to help Liv, I felt tears start to trickle down my cheeks, so many friends…

" _Anyway Alex, I just need to ask you a couple of questions for this paperwork, the usual stuff, where you studied, specialties, major cases, current pay grade, that sort of thing_ _, plus I'll need you to email me a bio_ _._ _Once I've got all that I_ _'ll walk the paperwork down to HR and they'll process it today and you should get the acceptance letter in a day or two_ " I frantically wiped at my eyes with a tissue, no doubt my makeup was a mess but I honestly couldn't give a damn right now.

"Um, yeah, sure Andrea, I'm sorry, you must think I'm a scatterbrain. I'm afraid I'm not making much sense" Andrea's chuckle was quick and real.

" _No, I_ _completely_ _understand, it's all moving pretty quickly, like you said, but from what Brenda's told me, both of you need a break and we can help out. There was no way I was going to say no to Brenda and Sharon, not about something like this, even if they weren't people I_ _both like and_ _admire_ " I unconsciously nodded.

"Brenda and Sharon are wonderful people, they all are" Andrea's voice down the phone was warm and happy

" _That they are_ "


	11. Chapter 11

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **11 Rescuing Cabenson Part 4: Jane's Day**

Jane's viewpoint

Ana and I had parked ourselves in a coffee shop near 1 Police Plaza, the NYPD headquarters, passing some time while we waited for the LAPD bureaucracy to shudder into gear. Ana had rung her fellow Special Agent; Jordan Shaw of the Bureau's New York office late last night, explained the situation and arranged for us to meet up with her mid-morning.

Shaw was apparently something of an in-house legend within the Bureau, she'd been involved in a series of cases where she'd profiled and arrested serial killers, rapists and other scum. In person she turned out to be both warmer and friendlier than I expected of a senior bureau agent; in my experience many of them had the standard bureau-regulation stick up their asses, not Jordan though, she was smart, attractive and remarkably down to earth, I liked her.

Her take on what had happened during the child sex trafficking case had been pretty horrible; it was obvious that it had hit her pretty badly as well. In fact it seemed that everyone running that investigation had taken it hard, the whole team had taken time off, the head of the New York Crime Lab, a Lieutenant named Taylor, had taken a couple of weeks leave and gone travelling with his son; Beckett and Castle had taken a week off after the last of the kids had died and basically fled to his place in the Hampton's while Shaw had taken some time off herself and found herself hovering over her young daughter way more than was normal for her, she just needed to know she was safe and protected from the monsters out there.

Shaw had told us it was an appalling case, one of the worst she'd dealt with, not so much for the way the kids had died, she'd seen much more dreadful children's deaths dealing with serial killers and other monsters, but from the large number of young victims and the sheer horrifying helplessness they'd all felt as one by one those children had died, with nothing anyone could do to save them.

They'd been looked after in one of the city's best hospitals, receiving the best possible round-the-clock care available from a dedicated team but they might as well have bled out on the street for all the good it had done. One by one each child had died slowly, in agony, heavily dosed on painkillers to hold the pain at bay. Twenty young kids died during that case, most of them while the team had stood watch over them as they had passed away, more than enough to mess with anyone's head; hearing the horror all over again I found myself saying another small prayer to never face a case like that.

We'd explained why we were here and what we were trying to do to help Liv; she'd just looked at us, nodded slowly and asked what she could do to help. We'd thanked her and told her we hoped that it wasn't needed, but would she be prepared to put in a good word for Liv if it was needed, to which she'd agreed without hesitation.

Shaw was curious about us both, it turns out she'd reviewed the case files on Hoyt back when he'd escaped and come after me the first time but the local Bureau agent running the case, that useless ass Dean, hadn't felt the need to bring her in on the case even though she was considered one of the Bureau's go-to people when dealing with psychopaths and serial killers, so she knew a little about me and a lot about Hoyt but she didn't know Ana at all.

I had no doubt she'd be pulling up Ana's file as soon as she got back to her office, I didn't think she'd give us any trouble there though, even though Ana had wandered into the local office's territory without a word of explanation. I explained that we were both friends of Olivia and Alex and we were here trying to help them both, at which she'd just nodded at and asked how she might help.

We'd chatted for a while before Shaw took her leave, she had cases to run but insisted that if there was anything she could do, that we should call her, passing across her card and taking ours. Another two cups of coffee passed over quiet conversation and occasional texts with Maura and Nat before my phone rang; it was Brenda letting me know that we were good to go.

Ana headed into 1PP to talk to Alex's boss Michael Cutter while I grabbed a cab down to the Sixteenth Precinct to call on Liv's boss Captain Cragen.

The building reminded me of some of the precinct's I'd worked out of back in Boston as a uniformed cop, back before I'd escaped into first Vice and then Homicide. The same air of tired bureaucracy, filled with overworked cops trying to make some sort of difference.

The badge helped get me through to see Captain Cragen without too much wasted time, a big guy named Tutuola coming and getting me, giving me the once over as he escorted me through the building and into an office overlooking the SVU unit's area, leaving me sitting opposite a tired-looking, late middle-aged man in a rumpled suit. He looked like an old school officer, a street cop who'd climbed the ladder on the strength of his record, not by kissing ass and manipulating the work of others to make him look good; he reminded me a bit of my old boss Cavanaugh back in Boston Homicide, before he'd turned into a dick about Maura and I that is.

Cragen had been cautiously polite but obviously surprised to get an unexpected visit from a LAPD detective. I'd explained that I was here about Olivia Benson and his eyes had narrowed as he tried to work out my angle as I hastily explained that it had nothing to do with a case, that I was here as a friend.

"Rizzoli…Jane Rizzoli, I know that name" he mused. I expected him to bring up the Hoyt case, or the Bobby Merino shooting, that's what most people in law enforcement think of when they hear my name, but he surprised me as he spoke.

"You're the cop from Boston, Liv's mentioned she had a friend up there named Rizzoli" He paused, obviously thinking then spoke. "I saw the convoy shoot out footage, aren't you in Los Angeles now?" I smiled and nodded.

"I'm with the LAPD now, but yeah, that's me" I said as Cragen nodded and sat back.

"What can I do for you Rizzoli?" he asked. I sat forward and started my pitch.

"I'm here about Benson. I've spoken to Alex Cabot and I understand that Liv's not likely to be returning to work anytime soon and definitely not here in SVU" He stared at me for a while before speaking, his words and tone defensive.

"Olivia Benson is probably the best cop to work in Special Victim's this city's ever seen. I've every confidence that she'll be back on the job as soon as she's able" I nodded; he'd given the stranger the supportive pep talk, now we needed to face the hard facts.

"No argument from me, but I understand it's not me you have to convince, it's the shrinks and the politicians" As I finished he looked away for a moment, before he swung in his chair and looked out his window over his detectives working outside.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"Enough" I stated. "From what Alex has told me, Liv won't be allowed to pass a psych evaluation to come back here and Liv told me that they'll try and reassign her somewhere else, probably processing overtime forms in admin or something similar" I shrugged and continued. "Apparently the investigation she was part of indirectly exposed a number of powerful people who'd been customers of that paedophile pimp, making a lot of enemies" He nodded slowly; not looking at me then spoke quietly, looking out over his team as he did.

"I understand that they're looking at a posting to administration, though I've suggested Intelligence would be a much better use of her talents" He shook his head as he continued. "I was told that my 'suggestion' would be considered" He grimaced, telling me how he felt about that. I shook my head, stupidity!

"Shit, what a stupid waste, she's a cop, not a paper pusher" I said, watching as he turned in his chair to face me as he spoke; I don't know if it was at my words or my tone but his voice was harsh.

"You're telling me that Rizzoli? You don't think I know that?" I could tell he wasn't happy so I backed off, no use pissing the man off when I needed his help.

"Yeah, sorry" He frowned at me.

"So what the hell are you doing here?" he asked. "What's your angle?" I nodded, time to lay it out.

"We may be able to offer an alternative that works out" I said, drawing a question.

"Like what exactly?" I pulled out my cell phone as I replied.

"Let me send a text and you should be getting a call that explains everything. What's your direct number?" I asked. He looked at me through narrowed eyes for a few seconds before reciting a string of numbers. I texted them to Brenda's cell and sat back.

"What sort of game are you playing here Rizzoli?" Cragen asked.

"No game here, I'm just a friend of Liv's, trying to help her out" I explained. He sat there for a moment, his eyes boring into me as I tried to sit there impassively. It wasn't easy, he was obviously worried about Liv, my appearance was a surprise and I got the impression he wasn't one for surprises. I just hoped like hell Brenda could convince him to support us.

The phone rang and his eyes flicked to it before glancing at me. I sat as impassively as I could as he picked it up.

"Cragen" I could see him straighten in his seat, his eyes flashing to me. "How can I help you Chief Johnson?" He listened for a moment then spoke. "Yes, she's here now, I'll put you on speaker" He pushed a button on his phone and spoke up as he placed the receiver down.

"Can you hear me Chief Johnson?" he asked. Brenda's honeyed accent filled the room; I was damned glad to hear it.

" _Yes I can, thank you Captain_ "

"What exactly is all this about?"

" _I understand that following a particularly difficult case, Detective Sergeant Benson has been stood down on leave, a chance to recover from the events of that case_ " Cragen nodded as he replied.

"That's correct" Brenda's voice was reassuringly confident.

" _I'm also informed that Sergeant Benson is suffering from burnout from more than a decade in SVU and the psychological trauma of that particular case and is unlikely to be cleared to return to your unit_ "

"You're well informed Chief" I could hear the smile in Brenda's voice.

" _Why thank you for that Captain. As I was saying, I understand that the chances of Sergeant Benson returning to Special Victims are very likely non-existent and that the psychiatric evaluation she is being forced into will recommend she be assigned to somewhere else within the NYPD, which I'm led to believe will almost certainly be a posting that, due to the political factors involved, will see her punished for her success. Would that be your evaluation of the situation Captain?_ " He looked at me, nodding slowly as he replied.

"Yeah, it's looking that way. I just told your Detective Rizzoli here that they were looking at a transfer off the streets, probably into Administration"

" _I'm sure we'd both agree that'd be a dreadful waste of an outstanding officer_ " I smiled at the way Brenda had phrased it, so polite. Cragen's response was a lot more civil too.

"Hell yeah, she's a front line cop, a good one, it's just that more than a decade in SVU's burnt her out, especially this recent case"

" _I completely understand, I do Captain. I couldn't contemplate working in Special Victims, I have the very greatest admiration for those who can and do. It's just everyone has their breaking point..._ " Cragen unconsciously nodded.

"Most people last three or four years, Benson's been here for over a decade"

" _Exactly my point Captain; I understand that and I'd like to offer a possible alternative_ " The look on Cragen's face was suddenly wary, he was wondering where this was going.

"I'm listening Chief" he said carefully, obviously waiting for Brenda's pitch.

" _The LAPD is prepared to offer the NYPD a secondment for an officer to Major Crimes Division here, on the condition that the officer to be seconded is Sergeant Benson_ " Cragen frowned, thinking it over for a moment before he replied.

"A secondment?" I could almost picture Brenda nodding in her office as she replied.

" _Yes Captain, for a period of six to twelve months, working here in LA_ " Cragen paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"Interesting, but what about Benson's partner? She's involved with one of our District Attorney's…" Brenda's voice cut in.

" _Alex Cabot, yes, an offer from the LA District Attorney's office to Ms Cabot is being conveyed to her as we speak, offering her a secondment out here, for the same length as Olivia Benson's secondment_ " Cragen's reply had an edge to it.

"Sounds like you've got everything planned Chief Johnson" Brenda didn't let either his words or tone faze her.

" _Not really, this is still being put together, we'll need to organise a whole bunch of details, like accommodation, firearms permits, bar approvals for Ms Cabot and the like, but I'm sure none of them are things we can't handle_ "

"What's in it for you Chief?" Cragen asked suddenly.

" _I beg your pardon Captain?_ " Cragen was blunt

"Why are you doing this?" Brenda's voice was calm.

" _Captain, currently you are likely to lose a good officer to a problem that her job created. Too many years of the worst kind of cases in Special Victim's has burned her out. In addition, because of the politics surrounding her most recent case it appears certain that Sergeant Benson will be punished for doing her job and thus will not be returning to SVU or any other front-line role; we'd like to offer her another chance_ " Cragen frowned.

"By pulling her to the far side of the country, a long way from her friends and colleagues, I'm not sure that's going to help her" Brenda's voice was kind but firm.

" _I respectfully disagree Captain, here in LA she would be busy and far from the types of cases that burnt her out, doing meaningful police work and working with people who are her friends as well. She would also be removed from the toxic politics that seem to have surrounded this most recent case_ " Brenda paused for a moment then continued; her voice a bit softer. " _The reason this offer is on the table is because her friends made us aware of the situation in the first place_ " Cragen sat back, elbows propped on the arms of his chair, one hand fisting the other.

"I have my doubts about your proposal Chief, dragging them both away from their support, it may not work out" Brenda's voice was calm; obviously she'd thought this through.

" _You may be completely correct Captain, it may not, in which case we've really not lost much given the situation we have right now. On the other hand we may be able to salvage a great officer_ " Cragen frowned as he spoke.

"We may be able to do that here too" There was a hint of disbelief in Brenda's voice that the speaker did a good job of conveying.

" _Shuffling paperwork? From what I've been told and from my personal observations of Sergeant Benson that will kill her spirit and drive her out. I understand that moving them all the way out here to LA may not seem like the best solution, but here Olivia would be doing real police work, in a valued role, in a team that handles some of the most important cases_ " Cragen looked out at his detectives, his eyes seeing something, or someone, not there, before finally speaking.

"Go on"

" _There is another benefit as well. If you agree to the secondment it's my plan to partner Sergeant Benson with Sergeant Rizzoli there, they are friends and I believe it would be in the best interests of both of them to do so_ " At Brenda's words Cragen turned to look at me as I tried to hide my surprise, I'd never thought of that. His eyes looked me over before he spoke again.

"I thought Rizzoli was a Boston cop, what happens when she goes back to Boston"

" _Sergeant Rizzoli came to us on a six months secondment, but has since transferred to the LAPD permanently, we're very happy to have her. Who knows, Sergeant Benson might choose to stay here as well, she might choose to return to New York at the end of the secondment, but that will be her decision_ " Cragen frowned.

"So we may lose her to the LAPD permanently" Brenda was unfazed.

" _That is a possibility"_ she conceded. _"It is also possible that she may decide to return to New York at the secondment's end, in which case we will have had six months or a year of her services out here. Either way, we have a chance to retain her with either the LAPD or the NYPD. From what I understand there is a strong likelyhood that if Sergeant Benson stays in New York and is reassigned as you have suggested, then she will leave the force"_ she paused for a moment before continuing. _"I'd like to think that both of us agree that's not in the best interests of anyone, most of all Sergeant Benson_ " Cragen nodded slowly.

"You won't get an argument from me there" I could hear the smile in Brenda's voice as I reminded myself just how good Brenda was at this.

" _I'd like to get your agreement Captain, you're her direct superior and also, I'm led to believe, her friend. I'm not offering a guaranteed solution, but half a solution is better than none_ " Cragen paused, staring into space for a moment; I could see Brenda's comment about being Liv's friend had hit home. Finally he spoke.

"I'll need to speak to Liv first, get her agreement that this is what she wants, that she and Alex both think this is a good idea"

" _Of course Captain, I'd expect nothing less_ " Brenda replied quickly as Cragen nodded slowly.

"I'll also have to talk to my superiors Chief Johnson, get them to agree to your proposal. I can't guarantee that they'll sign off on this…that is if Benson and Cabot agree to the move"

" _I don't believe that you will have too much issue with your superiors. The LA District Attorney's office has been in touch with Ms Cabot's former boss, Ms Donelly, who has supported the move; as has one of the senior judges over there. A Judge Petrovski I believe is her name_ " Cragen's jaw dropped, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Lena Petrovski supports this? How the hell did you manage that?" As Brenda answered I made a mental note to ask Alex and Liv about this Petrovski person.

" _Yes Captain, I'm happy to report that she does, having provided a glowing endorsement of both Ms Cabot as a prosecutor and Sergeant Benson as an officer and as a witness_ "

"How'd you convince her?" Brenda's reply was direct and to the point.

" _Once the circumstances were explained to her, Judge Petrovski realised that losing Olivia Benson would mean likely losing Ms Cabot as well, something she said would be a tragedy for the justice system. Her support was immediate and wholehearted, for which we're all grateful_ " Cragen pursed his lips in thought for a moment then spoke up.

"What about Mike Cutter? He's head of the District Attorney's office here and Alex's direct boss. He's not going to like this Chief Johnson, not at all" Brenda's voice was quietly confident.

" _He is having a similar discussion with another of Olivia's friends, Special Agent Romanov. I hope that will go equally as well_ " Cragen nodded slowly before replying.

"I'll have to sell it to the brass here as well" Brenda's voice was calm.

" _I understand that if it becomes necessary, we have a contact who can talk directly to your Mayor, so if things become an issue, we can get top cover for this_ " I could see Cragen's eyes widen at her words.

"How the hell..." At his surprised query Brenda's smile came through the line in her reply.

" _One of Olivia's closest friends in New York is a homicide detective, Kate Beckett. Her partner is Rick Castle, the author_ " I could see Cragen nodding slowly as he realised where this was going. " _Mr Castle is a close friend of your Mayor_ "

"I see. Let's hope that's not needed Chief" he said quietly.

" _I hope so too Captain, but it's there if it is_ " Brenda said agreeably. Cragen nodded then leaned forward towards the phone.

"If this goes ahead, what role do you see Liv playing with the LAPD? She deserves a chance to shine, somewhere that's worthy of her, lord knows she's earned it" Brenda's response was immediate and unequivocal.

" _Captain, it's my intention to have her in Major Crimes, that's my squad and we handle the most difficult, high-profile crimes. I can assure you that her skills and experience will be put to very good use_ "

"I see" Cragen was quiet for a few moments. "Very well, subject to getting agreement from both Cabot and Benson, I'll take your proposal to the brass, with my endorsement" I sat back and let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding as Brenda's voice filled the room.

" _Thank you Captain, I understand that this has moved very fast and has no doubt come as a surprise, but I really appreciate your agreement here, subject to you chatting to Olivia and Alex of course_ " He nodded unconsciously at Brenda's words.

"Thank you Chief Johnson, I really hope this works, Liv deserves better than being tossed onto the scrapheap" I could hear Brenda's smile come through the speaker.

" _That she does Captain, that she does. I'll let you go, Sergeant Rizzoli will pass you my contact details, if there's anything you need feel free to call me anytime, either now or at any time in the future_ "

"Thank you Chief, I will be in touch"

" _I look forward to it Captain. Goodbye for now_ " she said.

"Goodbye Chief" Cragen hung up and sat there for over a minute, staring out over his officers, before turning his attention to me.

"You really think this wild ass scheme of yours is going to work?" he said, making me shrug before replying.

"I hope so, but no guarantees" I said; he was a man who obviously valued honesty. "If all goes well she might be back here in a year with a glowing recommendation, hopefully good enough to get her back working as a detective somewhere in the NYPD. She might end up staying in the LAPD like I did or she may end up leaving altogether, but I don't think that's likely" His eyes came back to me, hard, boring into me.

"You're awfully sure of yourself Rizzoli" At his statement I shrugged once more as I tried to explain.

"I understand her, she's my friend, plus I've been through something similar so I think I can help her through this"

"I hope to hell your right" he said. I made a 'who knows' gesture with my hands as I spoke.

"We're cops, we don't deal in absolutes" I pointed out. "All I can do is promise you that we'll do all we can" He nodded slowly before he replied.

"Then I suppose that's all we can ask for"


	12. Chapter 12

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **12 Rescuing Cabenson Part 5: Ana's Day**

Ana's viewpoint

The office of the Bureau Chief of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office was all wood paneling and comfortable leather seats, shelves full of legal tomes I doubt anyone had ever read and a big, intimidating desk, designed to convey a sense of power and prestige, authority and intimidation. It might have worked on me once, years ago, but the military does this sort of thing so much better, having had several hundred years to get it down to a science. To the post-Iraq, post-Army me, this was just an office, nicer than many but still just a place.

The owner stood as I was shown in; Michael Cutter was tall and slim with salt and pepper hair, dressed in a nicely tailored suit, dark eyes in a lean face taking me in as we shook hands before he gestured to a chair.

"Please have a seat Agent Romanov"

"Thank you Chief Cutter"

"Judge Elizabeth Donnelly will be joining us shortly" I nodded as he sat back and looked at me. "While we wait, you might like to fill me in on your interest in this matter" I nodded, I'd expected something like this.

"I'm a friend of Alex Cabot and Olivia Benson, through their close friends Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles" Cutter nodded once. "We're living in Los Angeles but we stay in close contact with Alex and Liv, they visit us, we visit them" I got no reaction so I pressed on. "Jane Rizzoli received a phone call from Alex the night before last, asking for our help. She explained that following a particularly traumatic case Olivia had been stood down pending an evaluation" Cutter remained silent so I decided to prod a bit.

"I take it you are familiar with the case in question?" Cutter nodded once.

"I am" He sounded like someone who handed out words sparingly, like he had to pay for each one. Ignoring his attitude I went on.

"The issue is that Benson is unlikely to be cleared to return to her previous role in SVU, especially due to the political issues involved, she's likely to be reassigned to a desk job somewhere which will likely break her spirit" I paused but Cutter said nothing. I mentally sighed at his mulish behavior and ploughed on. "Jane Rizzoli and I flew here as soon as we could to try and help, however we could" Cutter raised an eyebrow and regarded me. I was starting to get annoyed with his manner, so I decided to let him stew a bit. Finally he frowned slightly and spoke.

"And?" I smiled.

"I can fill you in now or we can wait for Judge Donnelly to join us and you both hear it at the same time" I shrugged. "Of course, if you want to hear it twice that's your choice" Cutter's eyes narrowed as he regarded me but I inwardly shrugged; I had more important things to worry about than a pissing contest with a New York lawyer with an overly-important sense of entitlement and a shitty attitude.

"I don't like your attitude Ms Romanov" This time I did shrug.

"I'm sorry for that Mister Cutter" I deliberately dropped his title, same as he had with mine, if he wanted to be a little snot I could play that game as well. I knew the type, career-obsessed, determined to make his mark no matter what and expecting deference from others. As I expected he didn't take it too well.

"If you want my cooperation I expect you to also show some respect" I tilted my head to regard him, before giving him the US Army answer.

"I respect the office Mr Cutter, however at this point I don't know you well enough to make that decision" His lips thinned.

"Tread carefully Ms Romanov" I sat back, smiling softly, I love needling arrogant pricks like him.

"I always do Mister Cutter" We sat there in silence for several minutes, not looking away from each other. It was like he was waiting for me to look away but I'd be damned if I gave him the satisfaction. Finally there was a gentle knock on the door; Cutter spoke without moving his eyes.

"Come in" The door opened and a slim woman with a blonde bob walked through, well preserved in her mid to late fifties with dark brown eyes. Ignoring Cutter and his shitty games I stood respectfully as she closed the door behind her before she nodded at Cutter.

"Michael" He nodded in return.

"Judge" She turned to look at me, holding out her hand.

"Liz Donnelly" I smiled as we shook hands.

"Special Agent Anastasia Romanov, good morning Judge, thank you for your time" She smiled and gestured me back into my chair as she took another seat.

"I understand you wanted to speak to us regarding both Assistant District Attorney Alex Cabot and Detective Sergeant Olivia Benson" I sat down and leaned forward, I had to sell this to them both, Donnelly in particular, she was the senior one; it was her influence I needed on my side.

"Yes Ma'am. As you are both aware, a recent case has had a significant impact on Detective Benson, sufficient that she is on leave pending a psychological assessment" Donnelly nodded and I took it as a sign to continue. "It's my understanding that she is almost certain to fail the psych evaluation and return to Special Victims, in fact I understand the NYPD is contemplating putting her in a desk job, that the paperwork has already been written to do so" I saw a small narrowing of Donnelly's eyes at my words before she sat back and crossed her legs.

"I'd heard something to that effect, yes" She frowned carefully. "Politics in play resulting in a waste of an outstanding officer" I smiled and nodded, feeling a little hope at Donnelly's words.

"Placing an officer like Sergeant Benson in a desk job is almost guaranteed to break her. I doubt she would last 12 months. She would leave and probably go somewhere else where she could be a front-line police officer" Donnelly nodded at my summation as Cutter spoke.

"How do you come in and what does this have to do with us?" I shrugged.

"If Olivia Benson leaves New York, Alex Cabot will as well; where one goes the other will too" Cutter frowned. And injected himself back into the conversation.

"I can't see Cabot walking away from her career and reputation like that" I shrugged again

"Why not, she spent years in WitSec, it's almost the same thing" His frown deepened.

"There was no choice then, there is here. She's got her job here" Realising he either wasn't or didn't want to listen I tried hard not to let my irritation show.

"Mister Cutter, are you honestly suggesting that Alex Cabot would consider putting her career ahead of her relationship with Olivia Benson?" Before he could speak there was a dry chuckle from Donnelly, drawing my attention back to her

"Maybe when she was young, but now? Not a chance" Cutter looked across at her, frowing.

"She clawed her way back into our office after WitSec, I doubt she'll throw all that hard work away" Donnelly shrugged.

"I would beg to differ but let us hear out what Agent Romanov has to say" Donnelly turned back to me. "I'm still waiting to hear your role in all this" I leaned forward; speaking as much to Donnelly as Cutter, I'd written him off, she was the one I needed to convince.

"I am fortunate to be a friend of both Alex and Olivia. Our good friends Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles are also very close to Alex and Liv; Alex called Jane two nights ago and asked for our help. We flew here overnight and spent yesterday getting caught up on what was happening" I took a breath. "As well as being their friend, I am also the Bureau's liaison officer to the LAPD. Following a discussion between Jane Rizzoli and her superiors within the Los Angeles Police Department, the LAPD is prepared to offer Olivia Benson a six to twelve month secondment to the LAPD, to give her a chance to recover away from New York, away from SVU" I took a breath then pushed on with the bit guaranteed to piss off Cutter.

"As part of that deal, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is willing to offer Alex Cabot an ADA secondment role for the same period" I sat back and waited. Cutter was the first to speak, his expression hard, anger in his tone.

"You expect me to sign off on this?" I smiled politely.

"I would hope you will, I expect you'll get the paperwork requesting a leave of absence in the next few hours" Cutter's eyes narrowed as his frown grew.

"So I'm supposed to let you walk in and waltz out with my best ADA?" I shrugged, unconcerned.

"No, but I'd hope you'd grant a leave of absence so that your best ADA can be there to help her partner recover" I smiled gently. "If she wasn't granted it, she could just leave. After all the DA's office in LA will have a job for her tomorrow, this way you stand a good chance of having her back" He stared at me for a moment, then turned to Donnelly and raised an eyebrow. She looked at him then back at me.

"Why do you think that moving Detective Benson to LA will help her?"

"She will be surrounded by friends, away from the memories of her cases here in New York but engaged in real front line police work. She will also be away from the politics that have crashed down around her because of her success in closing her most recent case, the child sex slavery one. I understand that a position will be found for her working in the Major Crimes division of the LAPD. The deputy chief who runs that division already knows and respects Liv, so she'll be with people who care, doing valuable work" I paused, then continued. "If all goes well, Liv and Alex will be back in 6 to 12 months, ready to take up their positions again; if not, well you haven't lost much more than you have now" Cutter scowled, obviously pissed.

"I'm still waiting for a good reason to even consider this" I smiled, a trifle nastily, but Cutter was being an ass, it was time to drop some of the velvet and remind him of the steel behind it.

"Mister Cutter, if Alex wished to, she could walk out of here tomorrow and never need to work another day in her life, it's not like she needs the job, the money or, quite frankly, you or your opinions. If the NYPD persists in benching Olivia Benson, she will leave and Alex will walk with her, where one goes, the other goes too" I shrugged, not sparing the hard truth. "You lose her, never to have her back, so you lose your best ADA forever, at least this way she hasn't quit and you have a better than even chance of getting her back"

I could tell Cutter wasn't happy, he was looking at it from his viewpoint, what it would cost him, the problems it could cause, the difficulty's, not the needs of Alex and Liv. I mentally wrote him off as a lost cause, shifting my attention to Donnelly. She seemed a lot more responsive, looking at the big picture. I knew she and Andrea had already spoken so I was hoping she would throw her support behind us. Cutter was unlikely to fight it if the Judge was supportive. I watched as he looked to Donnelly.

"Well Judge, your thoughts? I'm not impressed by what I've heard so far" Donnelly nodded, obviously considering the pros and cons, she was a judge after all, that's what they did.

"I agree with the supposition that Benson will leave if the Department transfers her into a desk job, which is very likely given some of the political heat generated over the fallout from that case; that means Cabot will leave as well" She looked Cutter straight in the eye. "I'm certain of that, Benson's more important to her than her job, quite rightly so and as Agent Romanov has pointed out she could walk out of here and never have to work another day of her life, neither would have to work" She lifted a finger to silence his response. "They both would though, they wouldn't care if they were in some small town in flyover country, Olivia as deputy sheriff and Alex as county prosecutor, as long as they had each other" She thought it over as Cutter grimaced then spoke.

"She has a job here, if she walks away she can kiss goodbye to any hope of a political career here" Donnelly was nonchalant.

"If she walks, any DA office in the country would happily hire her immediately. One look at her conviction rates would ensure that, so it's not like she wouldn't have options there" She shrugged. "I know you don't like being hit with a fait acompli like this but Agent Romanov here is offering us a decent deal" Cutter snorted.

"Ultimatum you mean" Donnelly tilted her head to regard him.

"Don't shoot the messenger Mike; she's just spelled it out. The NYPD shoves Benson into a desk job and she will leave and Alex will go too. We'll lose them both. This way we have a chance of getting them both back in six to twelve months" His voice was borderline truculent.

"They might not too and we'd be down an ADA" Donnelly shrugged and tossed it back into his lap.

"So what's your alternative?" I hid a small smile at the way she'd put him on the spot, watching as Cutter made a little negative hand gesture and spoke.

"Do nothing, let's see if Cabot has the balls to walk away from a job she's good at" At that piece of stupidity I couldn't help stepping back into the conversation.

"Make that bet and you will lose" Meanwhile Donnelly had frowned darkly, her tone chilling.

"That would be a very unwise decision Michael. That would be tantamount to forcing her to choose between her job and her partner. Under normal circumstances I already know what her decision would be; given the situation she and Olivia find themselves in at this point it will be no contest whatsoever. Especially given that there is a job waiting for Olivia in the LAPD and the same for Alex with the Los Angeles DA's office" She gestured my way. "Romanov here is correct" I said nothing as I watched them talk, happy Donnelly was making my case for me, Cutter though wasn't happy.

"But to let them waltz out the door, we need her damn it, she's my best ADA" There was the hint of a whine in his voice, one that almost brought a smile to my face, even as Donnelly shrugged.

"Then we learn to do without her for twelve months, otherwise we learn to do without her for good" She smiled, not pleasantly. "Your call Mike" she said, putting him firmly on the spot. They sat there, silent for a few moments before finally Cutter looked at me, quite obviously not happy.

"Agent Romanov, would you please wait outside" I nodded and stood.

"Thank you for your time Chief Cutter" I nodded to Donnelly. "Judge" They both nodded and I made my way out to his secretary's office and took a seat. With nothing better to do I checked my phone for emails and texts. In amongst the usual flood of work emails there was one from Jane, her meeting had apparently been a success; another from Natalie asking me how it was going. I spent a few minutes responding to them both before the door to Cutter's office swung open and Judge Donnelly emerged, shutting the door behind her. She turned and took me in as I stood. Raising a finger in the universal 'wait' signal, she pulled out a phone and typed out a quick text message before sending it off and looking up at me.

"Come along Agent Romanov, let's go get a coffee and we can discuss what happens next" I obediently followed her out into the corridor and eventually out of the building. Finally I couldn't contain myself and spoke.

"Pardon me Judge, but about Alex..." She gave me a half smile and a glance out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh that, it's all approved, though you're not his favourite person right now. You know in ancient times they used to kill the bearer of bad tidings" I nodded.

"Yes ma'am, but we're supposed to be more sophisticated these days" Her smile grew a little wider.

"Supposedly, but I wouldn't bet real money on it" I said nothing for a while, as we crossed the street and made our way through the crowds. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me.

"Pardon me Judge, but where exactly are we going?"

"Getting a coffee, just along here in fact. As you're about to steal our best prosecutor the least you can do is buy us a coffee" I nodded and eventually followed her into a quiet cafe where she led me to a booth occupied by an older, smaller woman. I was waved into the other side of the booth as Donnelly slid in beside the other woman.

"Agent Romanov, this is Judge Lena Petrovski. Judge, this is Special Agent Romanov of the FBI, apparently on assignment to the LAPD as liaison officer, when she's not meddling in our affairs here in New York" The other woman nodded and looked at me, taking her in I could see she was older but still sharper than most people, there was real intelligence in those eyes. I nodded respectfully.

"Judge"

"Agent Romanov, you've stirred up quite a hornet's nest, you and your detective friend, Rizzoli" I nodded; I mean what else could I do. "You might as well run us through everything from the top, I want to know how the hell this happened so quickly and what you expect Benson and Cabot will be doing out in California" I looked between both Judges and took a breath, wondering where to start, when Petrovski interrupted again.

"Before we start, get the waitress over here, I need a coffee and you'd better get yourself one young lady, you're going to be here for a while"

I sighed; it was going to be a long morning.


	13. Chapter 13

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **13 Rescuing Cabenson Part 6; Olivia's Day**

Olivia's viewpoint

The surprises kept coming; Jane and Ana turning up on our doorstep yesterday had been a huge one. They'd flown across the country to be here, simply because Alex had asked them to.

On one hand I should be mad that she'd gone to them with my problems, I should've been able to handle this without causing them dramas, on the other though I realised it was her love for me that had driven her to ask for their help.

We'd had a long chat yesterday, the three of us sitting around the table as they encouraged me to open up about what had happened, it felt good to talk to them both, I knew they'd never judge me, never look down on me for not handling it the way I should.

We'd had dinner in, just the four of us, simple Italian food and a single glass of wine as we chatted about everything and nothing, it was after nine before they left for their hotel; both had flown in overnight and were running on empty.

Alex and I saw them out and in a taxi before heading to bed ourselves. We'd cuddled for a while, just feeling each other there. I felt really bad, these last few weeks I hadn't really been there for her, not the sort of person she deserved, not really the one she'd fallen in love with.

I tried to explain myself and apologise to her but she refused to hear it, she told me that just because we hadn't actually gone through the whole 'in sickness and heath, for better or worse' ceremony yet didn't mean it didn't already apply. I looked out for her, she looked out for me and we looked out for each other.

I'd just snuggled up against her, my head on her shoulder, falling asleep listening to the muted thunder of her heartbeat, the regular, even sound providing some desperately needed certainty as I tried to deal with everything that was happening.

We were up early, Alex insisting I get up and have a shower, get dressed and have breakfast; I was cleaning after breakfast when I heard a knock at the door, followed by muted voices, probably Jane or Ana.

"Liv, there's someone here to see you" At Alex's call I looked up to see Kate Beckett standing there, a small, shy smile on her face. At the sight of her I felt my jaw drop, my brain not quite working right.

"Kate…how?" Before I knew it I was hugging her tightly to me and getting an equally strong hug back, it was so good to see her. Looking over her shoulder I could see Alex's huge grin lighting up her face, she'd known Kate was coming and knew that just seeing her would lift my spirits. She was wearing jeans, her usual heeled boots, a sweater and a trench coat and she looked good. I held her out at arm's length and looked at her.

"How are you Kate?" She'd taken a bullet to the vest on that case and she'd needed to go to hospital to be checked out; I'd knew she'd made a full recovery but I still wanted to be sure, to hear it from her once again.

"All better, as good as new" She smiled but I could see a hint of sadness in her eyes. I doubted any of us were totally fine after that case, least of all me. "It's good to see you Liv, really good" We stood there smiling at each other; we went back a lot of years together.

"What brings you here, not that I'm not happy you are" She gave me that slightly shy smile I'll aways associate with her.

"I'm here to drag you off into deepest, darkest New York, we get to spend some time together having some fun, which I'm sure we'd both agree is a good thing" I caught Alex's eye as she enthusiastically nodded so it seemed I was comprehensively outvoted. We chatted for a few minutes before Alex left for work and we headed off too. Walking out of the building I looked around.

"So Kate, where are we going?" She shrugged.

"No idea, out, somewhere that's not your place and isn't work" She smiled. "I was asked to keep you occupied" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"By Alex?" I got a teasing look out of the corner of her eye.

"No, by Jane" That was a surprise, I hadn't expected that.

"Oh" With a smile she turned and gave a 'c'mon' gesture with her head and we headed across town towards Central Park as Kate pulled out her cell and typed away for a moment. Fifteen minutes of walking and talking later we were approaching the gates of the Park when I spotted a red Ferrari double parked, as we got closer I saw a familiar figure standing next to it.

Kate walked over and got a kiss from Rick, before he turned and smiled at me.

"It's good to see you again Liv" He reached out and dragged me into a warm, tight hug, one I happily returned. I liked Rick Castle, a lot. He'd made Kate a very, very happy woman and for that he had my eternal gratitude. The fact that he was one hell of a nice guy who just happened to be handsome, talented and filthy rich was just icing on the cake. Finally he let me go and I took a step back and smiled.

"It's good to see you too Rick, real good" His smile widened.

"If we'd had a body drop or we were working a case I'd normally be arriving about now with a peace offering. Hard-working female detectives need to be appeased with regular offerings of coffee; they tend to get tetchy when said offerings are not forthcoming" I could see Kate was trying to hide a smile as he spoke before he turned and reached into the Ferrari, emerging with two large take out cups in his hands.

"Grande skim latte, two pumps sugar free vanilla for you" He handed a cup to a smiling Kate before turning and handing off the other to me. "And for you dear lady, a double shot black coffee with two sugars" He grinned and I smiled in return; he had my order down pat. Kate leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.

"Thanks Rick, the offerings will probably buy you some more indulgence, for a while anyway" I smiled as well.

"I'm feeling very appeased" He laughed at my words then checked his watch.

"Then my work here is done, I'm off to Black Pawn" My confusion must have shown. "My publisher" He shrugged. "They want to talk to me about cover concepts for the latest novel" He leaned in and kissed Kate quite thoroughly before turning to me.

"Take care of yourself Liv, if you need anything, just call" I stepped in and gave him a kiss on the cheek before I found myself wrapped in his big bear hug as he whispered in my ear. "I mean it, anything at all, promise?" I stepped back and nodded and he smiled at us both.

"I'd better get going before I get a ticket" He winked at Kate. "Though you'd badge me out of it wouldn't you detective?" Her grin was quick and easy.

"Yeah right Castle, in your dreams" They exchanged a deep look before he swung into the driver's seat and drove away with a wave, leaving Kate shaking her head. "I swear, sometimes he's like a kid" I smiled, she couldn't disguise the affection in her voice or her eyes.

"And you love him just like that" She smiled that shy smile again.

"Maybe"

We walked around Central Park for a while, just chatting, catching up on gossip, people we used to work with, some of the crooks we'd chased who'd got away, the usual things cops talk about, before Kate led me towards a bench and gestured to sit before turning to face me, her face solemn.

"Liv, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me" I turned and looked at her, shaking my head.

"Kate, it's my problem, not yours, you didn't need to hold my hand, I'm a big girl, or at least I'm supposed to be" She shrugged, looking a little sad.

"We're partners, always will be, no matter where we end up. Partners look out for each other, or they should"

"Kate, look, that case did all our heads in" I looked out across the open space in front of us, seeing people walking through, a woman pushing a stroller, a man walking his dog, normal people enjoying a normal life, lucky them.

"I may have taken the shot, but if I hadn't you would have, if you could" I looked round and looked her right in the eyes. "He shot you Kate, if you hadn't been wearing a vest and plate you might be dead now"

She nodded slowly, Lysenko's shot had hit her square in the chest, the vest's trauma plate had stopped the bullet but she'd been really badly bruised, her torso covered in a massive purple and yellow bruise from that monstrous hand cannon he'd been using. Kate had been shot in the chest by a sniper a few years ago; I didn't doubt that another shot to the chest, even stopped by her vest, had resulted in some nasty memories and more than a few sleepless nights.

"I took the shot Kate, I made the call and now I have to live with it" She looked at me and smiled softly.

"Yes you do, it's a damned hard call but you made it, the right call"

"I killed him Kate, he died and those kids died with him. I killed them, as sure as if I'd put a bullet into each of them" She looked at me with those big, wise hazel eyes before speaking slowly.

"If you hadn't he would have taken a second shot Liv, or a third. The next one might have been in my head, or yours. I understand what you're feeling, I really do, but I'm kinda glad both of us are able to sit here having this discussion now" I looked down, seeing the grass between my feet as she spoke again.

"If you hadn't, you might have been the one calling on Rick to give him the news, or I would have been the one to knock on Alex's door to give her a message I never want to give" I looked up as she shrugged. "Maybe that's selfish but I didn't want to deliver that message and I'm damn sure you didn't either" I shook my head.

"We're supposed to be the strong one's Kate, shouldering the burden so that others don't have to"

"Some burdens are too heavy Liv, we can't lift them. Some others we can, but the weight of them over time bends you, breaks you if you carry them too long" I looked across at her; Kate wasn't usually quite so direct about it but I thought I knew what she was referring to, the murder of her mother in what was made to look like a mugging gone wrong.

"How did you deal with it? You were borderline obsessive Kate, I knew something was driving you, even before you let me in, how did that weight not break you?"

"It almost did, I carried it for so long that it drove me right to the edge. In the end I had to put it to one side, I almost had a break down, so I locked that away, buried it deep and tried to move on, but I couldn't"

"So what happened?" She shrugged then spoke quietly.

"Rick, he asked a few piercing questions which left me wide open and exposed. He realised that I couldn't really let go and move on, so he started digging and ended up opened a massive can of worms" I raised an eyebrow.

"I can't imagine that was particularly welcome" She shook her head slowly.

"Not at the time, no, but he wanted to give me closure, so I could move on, so we could move on" Kate had never really explained what had happened so I pushed my luck.

"What did you find?" She looked up at me and grimaced.

"There was a conspiracy, a big one. Every time we found something, someone connected to it, they wound up dead, there's a long trail of bodies that we chased down" She sighed sadly. "Trouble was the person behind it got antsy, they tried to shut us down, killed my Captain when he tried to protect me, then when I wouldn't stop, they put a bullet through my chest"

I shuddered, remembering reading about it while I'd been deep undercover, the scum I'd been with had made jokes about how they hoped the sniper would been more accurate next time, I'd been forced to nod and smile with them but inside I'd been dying a little. I'd almost broken that mission off to go see her, but I'd been there for two months and I was starting to get traction with those sex slave traffickers. In the end I'd stayed put for another month, until the Feds and the NYPD had enough to round them all up, by then Kate had disappeared, no one knew where she'd gone to heal. I'd lost track of her for months, until we'd reconnected at the New York Mayor's Charity Ball a few months back.

"Yeah, I'd wondered about that" She nodded slowly, her eyes looking out over the meadow but actually far away.

"The shooter ended up dead too, when we finally chased him down. It eventually led us to the guy behind it but he's too big to pull down so we came to an arrangement, he leaves me alone and I leave him alone" I looked up at her, chewing my lip for a moment, aware there was a hell of a lot she wasn't saying and I wasn't going to pry.

"That must've been damned hard Kate" She looked across to me and gave me a half smile, half frown and a small nod.

"Yeah, but not as hard as being dead, or maybe having someone I really care about die. If I'd not come to that arrangement then I might lose Rick, lose what we have together. I decided I wanted to live, really live for a change" She smiled. "Turns out living's pretty good, nice, something I could kinda get used to"

"Yeah, it has its good points or so I'm told" I got a quick grin, before she sobered again.

"Liv, my mom's case was consuming me, I tried to put it behind me but I couldn't, it was always there. It drove me, first to be a cop, then into Homicide. I tried to leave it behind but I couldn't, it was always right here" Kate tapped her temple, then looked out over the green swathe in front of us for a long while, I left her to her thoughts as I considered what she'd told me.

I understood where she was coming from, my own mom had been both a victim and a victimizer; she'd been abused and perpetuated the abuse with me. I'd tried hard to put it behind me but it had been almost impossible. Too many reminders in SVU, too many little Olivia's needing to be saved. Kate finally came back to me from wherever she'd been; her voice soft.

"That's one of the reasons why none of my relationships worked out, they were all good, decent guys, but inside me, inside my head, inside my heart, none of them were as important as the job, solving each case. Every one of them was balanced against the job and found wanting"

"Until Rick" It wasn't a question. Kate nodded in response.

"That wasn't an immediate thing, it took time, there were issues to overcome, the biggest being my mom's case. We worked together to solve it and when we couldn't he convinced me that I had to live for me, not live in the past for my mom" I looked over at her and smiled.

"I'm glad he did. You deserve to be happy Kate and he makes you happy, any fool can see that" She grinned at me, the mood lightening.

"Then I must be a fool, because I didn't want to see it, fought it, ran from it"

"But here you are" She nodded amiably.

"Yep, that was Rick, he stuck it out, dragged me through the wreckage and out the other side. I almost died twice investigating my mom's case, once when the sniper got me, the second when I got thrown off the end of a building and almost fell. I had to do that to see what was right in front of me, what I was risking losing" She sat back and looked at me. "I'm grateful that he did though. If he hadn't I wouldn't be contemplating a ring, a marriage and kids with Castle, the whole nine yards"

"Kate Beckett with a fairytale ending, who'd have believed that'd ever happen?" She nodded once.

"I know, once those thoughts would have scared me silly, now I can look at us together and see that future, now it doesn't scare me Liv, now it's something to look forward to" I smiled and looked her straight in the eye.

"I'm happy for you Kate, you deserve it, Rick's lucky to have you and you're lucky to have him" She nodded slowly.

"Yep, I count my blessings every day when I wake up lying on top of him, he always ends up wrapping me in his arms, I wake up being held, it's nice" I smiled, there was a soft smile playing on Kate's lips, as if she couldn't believe it.

"You sound almost domesticated" Her eyes flicked up at my words and tone, seeing my smile, aware I was teasing her as her own smile widened.

"I would have died before I let any guy get away with some of the things Castle does" She shook her head. "I didn't feel comfortable with a guy wrapping himself around me, I didn't need protecting" She stared off into the distance, her eyes far away. "But it seems so natural with him. God knows he's protected me enough times before" She snorted and looked back at me. "Sometimes we'll argue about who's saved who more often, it's gotta be over a dozen times each by now" I shook my head, half-amused, half-appalled.

"That's disturbing on so many levels Kate" She chuckled.

"Tell me about it, he reckons he's currently ahead"

"Kate" I waited until she looked round at me. "I have to tell you, it's so damned good to see you happy. You weren't for so long, not really; I'm glad you finally found your way there" She blushed and nodded, looking down as a small smile blossomed. Finally she looked back up at me.

"Thanks Liv, I am happy, it's like the whole world's different, like the season's changed, spring after winter" I nodded, she deserved the happiness. "What about you Liv, how is it with Alex?"

"I am so damned lucky Kate. I've known her for over a decade, loved her for almost as long, though I'd lost her forever several times, for so long she was an impossible dream"

"Then it changed" I nodded, a smile breaking through, I couldn't help it.

"Then everything changed" She looked at me, a smile matching mine.

"I have Rick, you have Alex, I can see the same future for both of us Liv; you just have to come to the same place I am"

"Oh?" I wasn't following her.

"You just have to understand that the job isn't your life, Alex is" I shook my head.

"It's always been Alex, she's everything I've ever wanted" Kate just raised a skeptical eyebrow at me and waited. I shrugged. "Ok, I've been an SVU cop so long it's how I define myself, but that's hardly surprising, I've been there a long time"

"Yeah, how many years you been there now, twelve, thirteen maybe?"

"It'd be fourteen this year, if I go back" Kate nodded slowly.

"Perhaps it's time for you and Alex to start redefining your lives, together" I frowned, not following her.

"What do you mean?"

"It's when you start defining yourself as Olivia Benson first, Alex's partner second, a cop third and an SVU cop last that you're in the right place"

"Like you do, Mrs. Castle?" It was weak, but Kate nodded at my riposte.

"We kept it on the quiet for so long because of the NYPD's no fraternisation rule. It was only after people found out and the NYPD lawyers agreed that as Rick wasn't employed by the department it didn't qualify, that we admitted we were together" She shrugged. "We don't advertise it, we just don't deny it if asked"

"How'd Gates take that?" Kate's Captain at the 12th was a notoriously by the book hard ass, ex Internal Affairs and all. She smiled.

"She'd worked it out for herself but was happy enough that we'd kept it quiet. When it became public, Gates was good with it, once the department's lawyers said ok. She's so by the book that if it was kosher by them then she had to accept it. It helped that she'd started to warm up to Castle too" I looked at her for a moment, just taking her in, before I felt a wide smile break out.

"Benson and Beckett, B1 and B2; happy, they never would have believed it, back when we were busting asses on the beat" I looked at her, comparing the person she was today with the kid I knew then, fresh out of the academy. So much had changed, but then so much hadn't, she was still the woman I'd always known, just that now she was happy.

"The world's a funny place Liv, who'd have thought we'd each end up with right person for us"

"You were my best rookie Kate, I was always proudest of you" She ducked her head for a moment, cheeks colouring, before looking up at me shyly.

"I wanted to make you proud of me. You were the experienced one, you taught me to be a good cop"

"You were always going to be a good cop Kate, it was simply a case of looking out for you as you learnt the ropes" We sat there for a moment, quiet, before she leaned over and bumped shoulders with me.

"Thanks Liv"

"No Kate, thank you" We sat there quietly, just enjoying the peace, not saying anything for a while.

Eventually we stood, dumped our empty cups in the trash and started walking again, our trail leading out of the park and onto the west side, we walked for miles, just chatting as I realised we were heading back into our old beat in the 26th precinct. The streets changed as we walked, covering ground at a fast pace, becoming more and more familiar, as we reached our old beat Kate slowed down and looked at me.

"This is where it began for me Liv, that first day out on the beat with you, I was so scared"

"Scared?" She nodded.

"Scared I'd do something wrong, that I'd make a mistake, that I'd disappoint my new partner, the one I'd heard so much about" I laughed.

"Don't believe everything you hear Kate, most of what you heard was probably just BS" I caught her glance at me out of the corner of her eye, her voice quiet.

"No, turned out most of it was pretty much spot on actually" I looked down, not wanting her to see how much her words had affected me. We'd wandered down familiar streets, when a call caught my attention.

"Hey, hey you, is that Officer Beckett?" I looked up to see a young guy I didn't quite recognise standing in the doorway of Luigi Ferlito's fruit shop. "Holy shit, it's Officer Benson" Kate and I exchanged a glance before moving closer. The guy was obviously young, no more than mid-twenties, Italian, good looking, but he wasn't really familiar.

"You guy's don't remember me do you?" I had to shake my head as Kate did the same.

"You're too young to be Mr Ferlito's son, so I'm afraid not" He grinned, seemingly stretching from ear to ear with one of the front teeth slightly out of alignment, that's when it hit me, where I'd seen that grin before.

"I recognise that grin, you're Antonio Ferlito, Luigi's nephew" If anything his grin grew even wider.

"That's me, you two haven't changed much though, still New York's finest, you're both looking mighty fine" Kate grinned and slapped him on the shoulder.

"You have though, look at you, all grown up" He nodded.

"It's been what, fifteen years or more? I remember my uncle missed it when you both got promoted off the beat" I nodded; his uncle had been a really good guy, lived here all his life.

"So now you're running the business?" He nodded proudly.

"Yep, you remember Rocco?" Rocco had been Luigi's son, Luigi had been so proud that his son had been the first in the family to go to university. "He's a trader down on Wall Street, working his ass off making money, no real time or interest in running the store, so my uncle left it to me when he retired a few years back" I nodded.

"Give your uncle our best Antonio. The place looks good, you must be doing something right" He laughed.

"Hard work and long hours, but its good, got a son and a daughter now, six and four and they're both going to college when they're old enough" We both smiled and congratulated him, I remembered Antonio now, always hanging round his uncle's store, we'd both teased the shy kid he'd been. "So tell me, what about you two, what are you both doing now, still partners?"

We spent the next few minutes bringing him up to date, with Kate explaining that we'd decided to spend the day out and take a walk round the old neighborhood.

"Some of it's changed, some's the same, lotta new faces but still some one's you'll recognise, they'll remember you too" We nodded and chatted for a few more minutes before we went to move on, before he stopped us and threw us an apple each, an old thing his uncle had done for us each day, his way of saying thank you for looking after us. I felt myself tearing up a little, before forcing a smile and thanking him, Kate doing the same. With a wave and that grin he wandered back inside, happily yelling he'd tell his uncle we'd been round. I looked at Kate and saw she was smiling softly, looking down at the apple in her hand, before she looked up and saw me watching her, as I saw something similar to what I was feeling appear in her eyes too. Finally she took a bite and grinned before we headed off down the street again.

Over the next three hours we walked our old beat, meeting some people we remembered, or who remembered us. Some young kids we'd busted on JD charges had grown up to be full fledged gang bangers now; a shame but that's the way it went. A couple tried to get all macho with us, but we'd quietly reminded them that we'd kicked their asses before and would be happy to do so again, but we weren't looking for trouble. In the end they backed down and we kept walking.

Generally though the reception was positive, the locals glad to see us again, lots of questions about what where we doing, were we married, did we have kids? By the time we'd finished I was feeling happy, it was good to be reminded that we'd done a lot of good here.

Not every kid here had been a lost cause, we met a real estate agent walking up the street who we'd caught as a scared 12 year old trying a break and enter one night on a local store as a gang initiation rite. We should have busted him, instead we'd put the fear of god into him and taken him home and handed him over to his parents who, he happily told us today, had whailed the tar out of him and grounded him for a month, before taking a lot stronger interest in his life.

He'd ended up working for the local real estate agent, initially dropping open house flyers in mailboxes, before the owner had encouraged him to try and make a career in the business. Now he was one of their top sales guys, happy to tell us that we'd done exactly the right thing, because of our decision he'd ended up avoiding the gangs and probably a life spent in and out of prison, now he was looking to get married in a few months, so his life was good.

We ended up sitting in the Parthenon Coffee Shop, our usual coffee place when we were beat cops, the interior had been spruced up but old Mister Houlias was still there, wrinkles and all, still running it and still making a wicked cup of coffee.

"Thanks for bringing me up here Kate, it reminded me that we do make a difference sometimes" She smiled.

"It's cool, I enjoyed it too. It's good to remember that not all of police work is Homicide and SVU"

"Yeah, it's stuff like today that reminds me why I keep going in" Kate looked out the window for a minute or so, obviously thinking something over, before turning back to me.

"I could quit work tomorrow Liv, sometimes I want to, god knows it'd be easy sometimes. Given Rick's wealth I'd never have to work another day in my life" Kate gave a little shake of the head before looking over at me, a small smile on her face. "I don't know though, could you really see me as some gold-digging trophy wife though, me for god's sake?" I smiled.

"Well, you do have the looks...A few designer labels, some perma-tan, a cute little dog, a sports car…" I teased, before shaking my head. "No, I can't, you're too good at being a cop" Kate's smile widened

"You're right, being a cop's what I do, it's what we do Liv. We're both damned good at it" There was no boasting there, just an honest statement of fact. She looked around for a moment, then down at her coffeee. "Given the Cabot family fortune, Alex and you could walk away from it all tomorrow, enjoy a life of idle luxury, but I know you Liv, that's not Alex and it's not you, it wasn't when we were walking a beat and it's not you now" I bobbed my head in a non-committal gesture, but Kate kept going, still looking down.

"I don't know Alex as well as I know you, but I do know her well enough to know she couldn't walk away either, both of you are too good at what you do, you both want to see the right thing done, the guilty punished, the innocent protected and the victims avenged" I looked over at her as she glanced up at me and continued. "It's the same with your friends Maura and Jane. The Isles family is wealthy enough that they could walk away too, but they don't. They're another couple who are committed to doing the right thing, to making a difference. It's what we all do Liv, it's important to us" I shrugged, maybe.

"Yeah, maybe, possibly, I don't know anymore" It was the truth; I didn't know what I should do.

"Liv, you've been in SVU so long you're drowning in it. Homicide's bad, but at least the victim usually isn't feeling anything anymore…" I grinned as I interrupted.

"Unless they're a zombie…" I got a real, honest to god Kate laugh at that, we shared a look as I remembered them telling us about that case late one stormy night up at their Hampton's place. She sobered enough to nod.

"Point taken, not too many of those cases though; thank god. One was enough" She smiled for a minute before taking up her previous thread. "In SVU the victims are often alive and you have to carry them through the case and the aftermath" She shook her head slowly. "I couldn't do it Liv; I don't know how you survived so long doing it"

"Sometimes I don't either, it just seemed that each day there was another case, another abused kid, another kid whose parents weren't there for them..." Kate cut in.

"Another little Olivia needing saving?" I looked up in surprise to see her watching me, but I suppose it was a day for a discussion without barriers. I was silent for a while as Kate sipped her coffee, before I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I suppose there's some of that too"

"Liv, you can't save all of them, no one can. You're human, we all have our limitations, there's always going to be people we fail, cases we can't solve, you have to accept that" I nodded slowly, I'd always known that, but day to day in the trenches it was easy to lose sight of that truth.

It helped to hear it from Kate though, I trusted her, we'd worked together, walked beats together, solved crimes together and got drunk together, she'd been there for me and I'd been there for her through the good times and the bad, I hoped it'd always be like that.

"It's hard Kate, I feel I owe it to them, to try and save other kids from what I went through"

"Was what you went through all that bad Liv?" I turned to see her looking down at her cup, surprised she'd even ask, but she was still speaking. "It made you the person you are today. It made you strong and compassionate and caring and dedicated, you wouldn't have the strength you have today without surviving what you did then" She looked up at me and smiled. "It made you the person I really respected, the one I still do"

I sat there for a moment, processing what she'd said, how I'd been driven to be who I was because of what I'd had to overcome. Maybe I was who I was because of what I'd experienced; it had certainly driven me to be the best SVU cop I could be, for the victims who were still being abused. But was that all I was, someone driven to right past wrongs, forever tilting at windmills?

"I don't know Kate, maybe I've been in SVU so long that's all I'm good at, all I'm cut out for"

"That's not you Liv, you can do anything you want, it's you who defines you, not the job and definitely not your past" She paused, her head coming up to look out the window into the street before she pressed on. "We define ourselves everyday, you and I, well you and Alex, Castle and I, that's what defines us, everything else is just the job and that's important, but not as important as what we have at home" She paused for a moment, her hazel eyes flashing at me.

"Liv, we spent our lives being defined by the horrible things that happened in our past, now we both have the chance to define ourselves by the good things that are happening now. I'm tired of being haunted by the past; I've decided to take control of my life, to concentrate on the good things happening and the better things to come"

I nodded, understanding what she was trying to say, I needed to realise that it was my life with Alex that mattered, the rest was just the job. Kate's voice came to me soft and low.

"There is one thing I'd like to say though Liv" I looked up at her, to see her eyes on me. "I'm alive because you saved me back in that room with Lysenko. I have a chance at a life of love and happiness with marriage and children and the rest of my life because you made the right decision, the right choice so that we'd both be able to go home to the people we love" She reached out and laid her hand on my mine "Thank you"

I sat there for a moment, trying to talk past the lump in my throat; Kate must have sensed it, as her smile widened, before I was reprieved by her cell ringing. The conversation was pretty one-sided, though at one point I saw her jaw drop before she recovered. Finally she said we were on our way and hung up.

"C'mon Liv, that was Alex, apparently you're needed at home" I frowned.

"Is everything alright?" She smiled reassuringly.

"Better than alright, but we need to get you home" We finished our coffee and stood, before I reached out and laid my hand on her arm. Kate stopped and looked at me as I spoke.

"Kate, for you I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat" She stood there for a moment, just staring at me, before she wrapped me in a huge hug, just holding me for a moment before stepping back, unshed tears in her eyes. She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve before smiling at me, where I was wiping away at my own tears.

"C'mon Liv, let's get you home, there's some news you have to hear" I frowned.

"What news?"

"That's not for me to say, c'mon, let's get you home and Alex can fill you in"


	14. Chapter 14

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **14 Rescuing Cabenson Part 7: The Talk**

Alex's viewpoint

It was getting quite late in the afternoon as we'd gathered back at our place, Ana, Jane and I, drinking coffee while we waited for Liv and Kate. I'd spent what felt like half the afternoon trying to thank them both for everything they'd done but they wouldn't have a bar of it.

They'd insisted they were acting out of pure self-interest, that this way we'd be living close, no more long-distance commuting, that they needed another good ADA, that Brenda was complaining that her newly-reorganised Major Crimes squad needed another good detective, that having us in LA would make Maura and Natalie happy, basically every reason under the sun to avoid accepting my incredibly grateful thanks. I mean I understand modesty but honestly these two were modest to a fault.

I was starting to get frustrated at their intransigence when Liv and Kate arrived home, immediately sidetracking me as I took her in. I could easily tell that their day had been a success, Kate was smiling and Liv, she was relaxed and happy in a way I hadn't seen much of recently, a lot more like the woman I'd fallen hopelessly in love with.

Ever since Liv and Kate had reconnected back at the Mayor's Ball, I'd found myself wondering what they were like as partners; based on everything I'd seen of them together, here in New York, up at Rick's place in the Hampton's, everything I was seeing now; they must have been really good for each other. I really liked Kate and her partner Rick was a wonderful man, he adored Kate and she loved him equally, it was great to see them together. Liv walked straight over and gathered me into her arms for a kiss and a cuddle, whispering 'love you' into my ear as she did, making me smile that little bit wider.

We chatted for a few minutes before I asked Liv to come into the kitchen to help make the coffee, but really to have a quick chat. Liv smiled, apologised to the others and followed me inside to where I was getting the cappuccino machine ready. I turned and asked her to close the door; I could see the good mood evaporating as she did, worry starting to replace it so I hastened to reassure her.

"It's nothing bad Liv, quite the contrary in fact, but I wanted to chat to you privately first" Liv nodded and I smiled, patting the bench beside me. "Come over here" As she did I turned to face her, reaching out and holding her face between my palms, before leaning in for a long, slow kiss.

We must have stood there for at least a minute, just kissing, as she pulled me into her arms and held me close to her. Finally we pulled apart enough to talk, but still held tight.

"Did you have a good time today Tiger?" Her answering smile lit up the room.

"It was great Angel, we talked for ages, sat in Central Park and talked about all sorts of things, then walked for hours, we ended up in the old neighborhood where Kate and I used to be beat cops, talked to a lot of people we used to know, they remembered us even after all these years. It was great to see them again" She paused for a moment, then spoke, her voice reflective. "We did a lot of good back then Angel, we saw people whose lives we changed for the better, who we helped and who are living good, happy lives because of the job we did. It was nice to have made a real, positive difference"

I nodded, smiling, I knew exactly what she meant, the sort of work we both did, prosecuting sex offenders was all about punishment after the crime, retribution if you like, what she and Kate had done back then had included some of that to be sure, but there had been a positive upside as well that wasn't part of the work of the Special Victim's Unit, something I pointed out to her.

"I think that's part of the reason you got burnt out Liv, SVU doesn't have a lot of positive outcomes, we punish the guilty but no matter what happens the result is always broken lives, lots of broken lives" She nodded slowly.

"Yeah, that's a big part of it, the job's all about getting justice for the victim's, but we can't fix what's happened, all we can do is try and punish the scum and try and stop them doing it again" She shrugged. "There was some of that on the beat, but there was also the satisfaction of sometimes helping people, not just sweeping up the pieces afterwards all the time" I heard the machine beep, letting me know it was ready so I stepped back and started pulling out the cups as Liv smiled to herself, watching as I started on the first coffee then explained why she was smiling.

"We met this guy, I last saw him as a kid, breaking into a store as part of a gang initiation rite. We put the fear of god into him and took him home to his parents who had no idea what he was up to, they started taking a lot more interest in what he was doing, pushing him to do more with his life" She chuckled happily, a wonderful sound I hadn't heard in a while, making me smile. "He's now working in real estate in the area, selling houses instead of breaking into them"

Eventually we had coffees for everyone and headed back out into the lounge room, where the others were waiting. The discussion turned to the case and all it had entailed with Liv once again explaining why it was her fault when I'd told her that she was not to blame.

"Alex, I failed those kids, not all of them, I get that, the ones who died before we caught up with Lysenko, we couldn't do anything to help them but the others…they died because I killed him, the antidote was lost when I pulled the trigger, I might have just as well have shot them too. That's just the truth" I shook my head, seeing the expressions on the others, they obviously felt the same as I did.

"Liv, you did what you had to do to save lives, from what I've heard he wasn't going to surrender and he wasn't going to stop shooting" I said. "If you hadn't taken the shot some other officer would have had to. You shot him because you were trying to protect other people around you. That's the truth too" Liv was still not buying it.

"But those kids died, if I'd shot straighter we'd have taken him alive and got the antidote out of him, those kids would be alive now" I looked round at Kate, sitting there quietly, seeing her shaking her head and pulled her into the conversation.

"Kate, you were there in the room, could Liv really have stopped him without killing him?" She looked at me and back at Liv, then shook her head decisively.

"No, almost certainly not, the way he was holding that girl" she stated flatly. "The only parts of him that were visible were his arm around her, his hand on her neck, the other hand holding the gun, or his head" She mimed the position with her arms. "If Liv had tried for the hands and arms, the shot would either have missed or hit the girl. The chance of hitting Lysenko in the shoulder..." She shook her head. "I'm a damned good shot, but that, that's Hollywood movie stuff. There's only a couple of inches of shoulder visible; in poor light, with a pistol at ten feet, a shot there would almost certainly have missed and quite possibly hit the girl. The head was the only available target to put him down before he fired again" She looked at Jane and Ana then at Liv. "I know you were aiming for the shoulder and hit him in the neck, but you took the only shot available" Jane nodded from where she was sitting on another of the couches.

"It's what we're taught, go for the centre of mass, if that's blocked go for the next largest target, in this case, that's the head. From what Kate's said, I'd have gone for the head too" Jane turned and looked at Anastasia sitting next to her, silently and obviously asking the question; Ana nodded and looked round at us all as she spoke.

"I'm not Annie Oakley with a pistol, so I'd have probably been reluctant to take the shot. A rifle, especially a snipers rifle from a reasonable distance, yeah, I'd have taken the shot, but from what Kate's said, the only real target was the head" She shrugged. "Sorry Liv, it sounds like it was a righteous shoot" Ana didn't actually sound sorry at all, she was matter of fact. "Besides it wasn't like you had any choice" Kate nodded.

"Yeah, he'd already hit me once, the next one might have missed the vest"

"He died though, that's on me" Kate shrugged as she replied.

"Call me selfish, but I'm kind of glad it was him, not me" Liv's eye widened as she hastily replied.

"I am too…of course I am, you know that, It's just that, well, all those kids died" Kate nodded.

"Yeah, they did" she said. "…and there was nothing anyone could have done about it"

"That was on me though" At Liv's words Kate pulled a face then asked a question.

"Yeah, on that, why didn't you call me, we could have talked all this through instead of you putting yourself through the ringer" She waved at Jane and Ana. "That way your friends wouldn't have had to fly all night across country to help bail you out of this mess" She gave Liv a hard look. "I was a phone call and a short drive away" Liv looked very discomforted at that, finally managing a reply.

"It was my problem, not yours; anyway you had your own issues, he'd shot you Kate" Kate shook her head.

"I would have been there for you Liv, you know that" she said, her voice was a little plaintive; as if she was hurt by Liv's refusal to call her when she needed help.

"I know Kate, I didn't want you to burden you; it was my problem to deal with anyway"

"What?" The word was forced from Kate's lips before she shook her head. "That's crap" Liv looked down at the floor, as if unable to explain why she couldn't call. As the silence stretched Jane looked round the room then shook her head slightly before speaking up; obviously she had something she felt she needed to share.

"What I've learned is that sometimes the hardest thing a strong person can do is admit that they can be weak when they have to be, that it's okay to need help" She flicked a glance at Ana and got a slight nod in return. "I had to learn the hard way, I was the first and for a long time the only female homicide detective in Boston, I had to prove myself every damned day; so I couldn't afford to show anyone I was struggling. If I wasn't in because I was sick with the flu or food poisoning or whatever; everyone automatically assumed it was 'women's issues'…" She pulled a face for a moment in obvious memory, one we all mimicked. "…and that was another reason why a woman couldn't hack it. Then came Hoyt and all of that shit and I pulled everything inside myself, refused to allow myself the chance to deal with it. I needed help and there was no one to turn to" She rubbed her hands together slowly as if the memory of the Surgeon had made them pain. "Thank god Maura came into my life and we hit it off, over time I realised I had someone who would listen, be there for me, someone I could just be scared and exhausted and me with" She smiled softly. "I didn't realise how much I needed her until she was there, she probably kept me safe and sane"

As I nodded at her summation, some of the things Maura had said privately now leapt into focus, particularly one about Jane having been a potential alcoholic, she'd turned to drink to numb the mental pain and allow her to sleep in the face of the incessant nightmares after her attack. Maura had worked hard to be there for her and helped her deal with the physical pain of her injuries plus the mental torture that Hoyt had inflicted. Having Maura in her life had been a huge plus for Jane, you'd be hard pressed to see any of that sad, almost broken woman in the strong person she was today.

Ana was the same, Natalie had told me a few dark stories about the beautiful woman sitting opposite me, the toll that a life spent in war zones and losing people she was close to had taken; she'd ended up actively seeking out every risk, every dangerous mission, taking almost suicidal risks to ease the pain of loss because she didn't care anymore. When the aftermath of Iraq and all that had happened there had seen her leave the Army and join the Bureau, she was dangerously damaged, barely existing, certainly not living, on the edge. Today there was no sign of that woman, instead, like Jane; she was a new woman thanks to the person who loved them.

Maura and Nat had healed the ones they loved; now it was my time to step up for Liv, for us.

"Yeah, we all have our demons" It was Ana, looking from Jane to Kate and then Liv. "Some of them are real, some of them are in our head, loss, guilt, despair, depression, we have to deal with them; the trouble is it's hard to deal with them alone. You need a new perspective from someone you trust to open up to, otherwise you're walking round with a circus troupe of monkey's on your back, each reinforcing each other, you need someone who knows what you're going through to pull you up, give you a reality check and remind you that you're better than you think" At that piece of honesty I saw Liv nod reflectively as Kate looked at Ana and nodded once respectfully, then direct a comment to Liv.

"They're both right, you know they are Liv" She gave a soft smile. "You know what I was like before Castle, same as I remember what you were like before you found Alex" She pulled a face. "We were both messed up, you had your demons, I had mine" She looked across at Liv as she spoke directly to her. "We eventually opened up to each other that night in the mountains, explained why we were both so messed up and agreed to be there for each other" She lifted one eyebrow questioningly. ""Remember?"

"I remember" Liv said quietly before Kate nodded and pressed on.

"Now we have people in our lives who love us the way we are and aren't afraid of our darkness, thank god"

"Hell yeah" It was Ana as Jane nodded in agreement.

"You have Alex, I have Rick" Kate said. "These guys have Nat and Maura, plus we have each other"

"You need that too" It was Jane. "Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, Maura and the others can't understand what we've gone through, what we're going through" Jane shook her head slowly as the others were suddenly silent, each staring at the floor as she continued, her voice subdued. "You have to have done it, to stand there with a gun in your hand and have to make a decision to kill that person because that's the choice we have to make, to protect others, it's not easy" Kate nodded.

"It never is" She looked down at the table as she continued quietly. "I can remember every person I've ever killed though sometimes I wish I didn't, occasionally I think of them and wonder if there was another way that didn't end up with me ending them" Jane nodded.

"Yeah, I've killed people, a lot of them if I'm being honest, I can remember them too. A few of them, yeah, I know now I might have been able to end it another way but back then, in the heat of the moment I did what I thought was right, but their death's, they're on me"

I sat very still, almost wishing I could vanish, knowing I shouldn't be hearing this; this was something between them. Four strong, dedicated women; repeatedly decorated for their bravery, their coolness under fire, for doing the right thing when lives were on the line, talking about the mistakes they'd made, the lives they'd been forced to take and the toll it imposed. Ana was staring at the carpet between her feet, the silence dragging on for a few seconds before she started speaking slowly.

"If you've killed, I'm a mass murderer" She sat quiet for a moment then continued. "I was in a war zone, in some places a free fire zone, armed with an assault rifle, grenades and the most dangerous weapon imaginable in the hands of a trained soldier, a radio" She looked up and the sadness there was physical, so real, it felt like a knife, "I've called in air strikes and artillery on insurgents that have killed innocents as well, to protect my own I've killed others, sometimes not just the enemy but the bystanders they'd hidden amongst. A guy with an RPG firing at a column of Humvees in an ambush from the top of a rooftop, the Hellfire missile from the Apache I called in killed him, it also killed four people who were on the floor below" Ana shook her head slowly. "I don't even know the names and faces, they were just collateral damage to one engagement, I don't know how many I've killed, or how many innocents, but it's too many of both" She looked up as resolve appeared on her face. "And I'd do it all over, to kill them so ours may live"

There was silence for a while at that as each contemplated her words and their own thoughts before Jane spoke, her voice quiet.

"You think you killed innocents Liv, you didn't; instead you killed a man with a gun planning on killing another cop, Kate here. If you hadn't fired he'd have killed Kate, then likely you" Kate nodded as Jane continued. "And then he'd have walked outside and faced all those cops and probably tried to kill them when they didn't give him the free ride out he wanted" Kate nodded.

"How many cops might have died if you hadn't fired Liv?" She shrugged. "Definitely one…me" Ana moved back into the conversation, a little more life in her voice as she put some distance between the memories of war and now.

"And that right there is what I mean Liv. We kill them so that ours may live"

"But I killed the kids…"

"Bullshit!" It was Jane. "That Russian son of a bitch killed them, from what I've heard he was leaving the country, what do you think was the chance he was going to give everyone a dose of the antidote as a going away present?" Jane swiped her hand across the space in front of her, metaphorically sweeping away any chance of that happening. "None, he wasn't going to, he'd step on that plane and cheerfully fly off somewhere and leave every single person he'd dosed to die in agony" Kate chimed in at that.

"They were already dead Liv, not because of what you did, but because of what he did, he admitted there was no antidote and we both know he wasn't going to give up the suppressant, he was going to go to the grave with that even if he could be taken alive which was never very likely"

In the quiet that followed Liv was silent for a moment, before she could reply Ana spoke up.

"If he'd got away, you can bet he'd do it all over again" She looked Liv straight in the eyes. "He had the support base, the people sourcing kids in Russia, the companies in the Caribbean, the contacts to get visas and passports and stuff plus he had the poison" She shook her head. "In six months it might be London, or Paris, or Rome, or Washington or even Los Angeles; it'd all start up again, how many more people would die before he was shut down again?" I nodded and inserted myself back in the conversation from where I was sitting at the other end of the couch from Liv.

"I think that makes it unanimous Liv, three of the most trusted people we know, they all say you did the right thing"

"Know you did" Jane interjected, making me nod as I continued.

"Three people we know and love and trust all know you did the right thing, why can't you accept that there was nothing you could have done" Liv looked at me, sadness in her eyes.

"There has to have been something, those kid's death is on me" Jane spoke harshly.

"Yes!" Shocked, Liv's head swung round to look at Jane as she pressed on before Liv could speak. "…and you know what, in your place I would have put a bullet right through his head, killed him right where he stood" She waved at Kate. "If you hadn't then he would have done the same to Kate here" The woman in question nodded.

"If the situation was reversed I would have shot him without any hesitation" Kate grimaced. "I'd have had to deal with the consequences later but if it was him or you, well no contest" Ana was equally uncompromising.

"We kill them so ours may live, it's brutal and harsh but it's the creed I was brought up with. I was a soldier; we kill others in the service of our country while we hope that what we're doing is the right thing. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't" She shook her head slightly then continued. "This is one of those times when it is" She looked Liv straight in the eyes and spoke. "In your place I would have blown the bastard's head off and dealt with the consequences afterwards" She shrugged. "I doubt I'd handle the aftermath much different than you, but in your place I would have killed him without hesitation"

"It's what I said Liv" Liv looked round at my words. "They would have done exactly what you did in that place, taken the shot to save Kate"

"But I messed up Alex, I should have taken him alive" At her melancholy tone I smiled sadly.

"Life had different plans Liv. In the end what happened in there happened" I paused then pushed on as she opened her mouth to speak. "The NYPD cleared you, our friends here have told you they would have done the same thing in your place" I let my voice soften into a questioning tone. "When will you accept that you did the right thing?"

"But…" she seemed to search around for reasons before she spoke, her voice plaintive. "I'm not supposed to kill innocents" Ana's interjection was brutally harsh.

"Collateral damage" She grimaced before continuing. "Trust me, with the best will in the world sometimes innocents get hurt" Seeing Jane and Kate nodding at that Liv turned to look at me, her voice soft.

"But I have to be better than that; I mean…I never wanted to disappoint you…"

My heart went out to her, the pain in those words as I suddenly saw the root of her problems. Liv has always doubted herself, questioned her value to me, wondered how I ever fell in love with her, always wondered if she'd do something to make me reconsider, not that that would ever happen, but she was plagued with doubts about her worth to me; beautiful, stupid, loving woman.

I smiled and tried to reassure her that she never could.

"There is no way that you could ever disappoint me, if you wanted to leave, get away from SVU and go be a deputy for some backwoods town out in the middle of nowhere, then as far as I'm concerned, well, I can practice law almost anywhere and would, just to be with you" Liv was obviously unsure.

"But you love what you do here, you're the best there is at it" I smiled.

"I love you a lot more than my job" I shrugged with one shoulder as I pulled a face then answered her question. "I can practice law anywhere, even start my own firm if I wanted to, but I'd never find another you"

"I'd never want you to have to make that choice" I couldn't help it; I chuckled gently at her words then, seeing her confused expression, explained.

"I already did Liv, years ago, it's why I came back to SVU after witness protection, after Africa, after everything; that choice was an easy one" I saw Jane nodding gently as Kate smiled and Ana turned her head to look out at the skyline, leaving this between us.

"Whatever happens, whatever comes, we'll face it together" I paused, realising that I had to be as raw and honest as the other three, it was my turn to be brave now. "Liv, since we got together, finally, on that weekend shopping when we met Jane and Maura, I've never been happier, more complete. Being with you is all I've ever asked for, ever wanted, for over a decade" I paused then pushed on. "Sure, I thought I wanted politics, or to be DA, or any number of other things, but they were what I wanted. You are the thing I need, the only thing I've ever needed. Now I've got you, it's been like a dream come true" I leaned forward to make my point. "You are not just what I want; you're what I need, what I cannot live without"

I could see the impact of my words on her and I ached to hold her, to make her know just how much I needed her, but I held myself back, we needed to make her see.

"Even if you were somehow responsible for those kid's deaths, which I don't believe for a moment by the way, I wouldn't care" I looked her straight in the eyes. "To be responsible you have to have had motive, opportunity and means. You had none of those; instead Lysenko was responsible for the deaths of all those kids, not you"

"She's right you know" It was Jane. "No court would convict you" She gave a lop-sided smile. "Listen to your attorney Liv, she's giving you good advice" There were nods from Kate and Ana as Liv was quiet, taking it all in. I knew she respected the three women in the room with us like few others, so perhaps together we were getting through to her.

Leaving that aside for now with a small prayer that she'd start to believe it, I judged it was time to drop my news, both Jane and Ana had been insistent it had to come from me.

"I had a phone call today Liv" She looked up at my words, the query visible on her face. "Sharon Raydor rang me" I didn't miss Liv's small twitch of a smile at Sharon's name; those two got on very well, bonding over a shared love of those weird old English comedians in Monty Python. "She rang to tell me that there are two secondment positions available in LA, one with the LA County District Attorney's office for me and a slot in Major Crimes for you"

I saw Liv's jaw drop open and for a few seconds she was speechless, before finally able to get her wits about her, not that I blamed her, it was a pretty big bombshell.

"A secondment…I mean how?" She looked round at Jane and Ana. "I mean how long?" Jane shrugged and spoke up.

"Six months, twelve months, who knows, it could become permanent..." She grinned. "If you play your cards right"

"But how will we get it done in time? I mean we only have a few days, I'm supposed to front that psychiatrist next Tuesday afternoon" It was Wednesday evening now. Jane shrugged.

"The paperwork's making its way through the NYPD bureaucracy; you should be getting a call from your Captain Cragen tomorrow morning, confirming you're okay with it. If, no when, you tell him yes the paperwork will be on his superior's desk by midday and with your commissioner the next morning at the latest" Kate waited till Jane had finished then jumped in.

"I can guarantee that will get signed, Rick's going to have a quiet chat with the Mayor and Weldon in turn will call Reagan, so there's no chance for Thomas or Tucker to screw with it" Jane nodded at Kate's words then looked to Liv as she spoke.

"By the time they find out you missed your eval you'll be in LA with full NYPD approval" she said, smiling. "I bet you'd love to see the look on their faces when they find out, I know I sure would" I nodded.

"The paperwork is already in train with my office too" I said. "Cutter wasn't particularly happy with me, I could tell" Liv looked to me, concerned.

"Was he okay though?" I smiled and played down what had been an…unpleasant experience. "He was frosty as anything, you could tell he wanted to say no but he signed off on it none the less"

"You can thank Judge Donnelly for that" Ana interjected. "He was moaning about how hard it was going to be for him to deal with when she laid it out for him, either sign the secondment papers or sign off on the papers for recruiting to fill your position after your resignation to go work in LA" She smirked. "I'm not surprised Cutter was pissy; he apparently has an issue with uppity women painting him into a corner" I smiled at that rather accurate summation and turned back to Liv.

"So my paperwork is in, both here and in LA, I had a long chat with Andrea Hobbs at the LA County District Attorney's office and it'll be approved by Monday morning"

"That means you need to be on a flight to LA by Monday night at the latest, far away from those pricks Thomas and Tucker" said Jane. "The sooner you start the better"

Liv nodded then looked to Kate.

"But what about you, I mean Tucker might come after you?" Kate gave a one shoulder shrug.

"If he turns up around the 12th with Gates still there as Captain god help him, I think she took his behavior as a personal slight, she wouldn't hold back a second time" I nodded, recalling the 12th Precinct's formidable Captain, she had been livid at Tucker's behavior when he'd turned up and threatened both Liv and Kate; Liv had recounted that particular encounter with relish. "So I think I'm safe for the moment" she finished as Ana smirked from the other couch and spoke.

"If he gives you too much shit, give us a call, the LAPD can always use good detectives" There were smiles and chuckles all round at that before I turned the discussion back to the move.

"Liv, it's a chance, a chance to put the whole country between the mess here and us, where Thomas and Tucker can't mess with you, with all of us" She nodded as I pressed on. "Going to Los Angeles, it'll be a big change, for both of us; a new life for six months and maybe a lot longer, given what's happened with Maura and Jane, but we'll have the chance to build a new life together, with friends and well away from the ghosts of over a decade of SVU cases" Liv went to speak but I kept going. "It's the chance for a new start, yes we'll miss our friends, Kate and Rick in particular, but we already have friends out there, plus people willing to go out of their way to help you…me… us"

"It sounds great Angel, it's a lifeline I never expected, but are you okay with it; I mean you're giving up more than me" I shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't see it that way, I get to work in a different jurisdiction which always looks good on a resume plus I won't be handling SVU cases, not that I'll miss that all that much" I smiled a little wider. "And even if I don't particularly like the job, we'll be with our friends every day so that's all good" I made a joke out of it. "Don't forget, I haven't been found in contempt of court in California yet. There's always a first time and you were the one suggesting we try new experiences"

"Stop throwing my words back at me" Liv's retort had no heat in it, making me smile.

"It is how I make my living" She nodded slowly.

"True that" I looked round the room and saw the others there listening and came to a decision.

"Guys, will you excuse Liv and I?" They all nodded and agreed as I stood and beckoned Liv. "C'mon Tiger"

We walked into the kitchen and I pulled her into a hug, burying my head into her shoulder, just luxuriating in the fact she was holding me and I her; that we were together. Finally I pulled back and looked into her soft eyes.

"Will you do this for me Liv?" She nodded immediately, words following.

"Of course, whatever you want Angel" At her pledge I decided I had to push.

"I love you Liv, but I was frightened when I came home and found you there that night, you scared me, it's why I called Jane, I was terrified I'd lose you" She pulled me close as she shook her head.

"I'm here for you Angel, I always will be" I nodded and pulled back a little, I had to tell her how much seeing her so defeated, so lost had scared me.

"All I've wanted for so long was to have you and to be yours, to know you were my everything and that I was yours" She started nodding but I pushed on. "I live for you, I have since I first fell for you, all those years ago" I swallowed, seeing the emotions swirling in Liv's eyes as I did. "I live for you, I'd die for you Liv; all I'm asking is that you live for me too" There were tears in her eyes, the same as in mine. "Once I knew that without asking, now I have to ask, will you live for me?"

I don't remember much of the next few minutes, as we just held each other and sobbed, repeatedly telling each other how much we loved each other; that we'd live and die for each other, knowing she meant it as much as I did. Finally we wound down and took stock of each other, our faces were a mess but I didn't care, we had each other, together we'd survive.

We eventually walked out into the lounge room to find Jane, Kate and Ana sitting there, not saying much. All three looked up to see us standing there, we'd obviously been crying but we had our arms around each other and we were smiling happily. Seeing us there smiles broke out as I took them in and smiled, though tears weren't far behind, these three…they were the best friends you could ever wish for, as I tried to explain.

"Thank you, thank you for…for being here, for helping us, for caring…"

I could see all three get a bit bashful at my words, before Kate smiled a small shy smile.

"That's what friends are for" That did it, tears started flowing down Olivia's face, she let me go and held her arms out, dragging first Kate then Jane into a hug as the tears flowed in joy, in sadness, in relief, starting the others off.

I saw Ana there and dived into her arms, it felt safe and loving and, just like Liv. I found myself whispering thank you, thank you, over and over, as tears ran down my face, seeing the same on Ana's as we clung to each other.

I don't know how long we were there, just holding each other before finally Jane stepped back, wiping at her eyes. She looked round the room, seeing the rest of us as much of a mess as she was as I saw her attempt a smile.

"So much for our reps" She looked around us all. "Everyone here is forever sworn to silence, you hear me, otherwise our reputation as badass cops is gone for good" There were teary smiles all round as we wiped at our eyes.

"So you're going to take the move?" I looked at Kate, realising that it meant that Liv and Kate would be on the far sides of the country. It didn't feel fair, they'd only just had a chance to find each other and reconnect after almost a decade, they were obviously good for each other and I really felt for them both. Liv must have realised the same as she smiled softly at Kate and spoke up.

"Hey, just because we're in LA doesn't mean we won't be coming to New York from time to time, plus you have to come out to see us and the others in LA" Kate nodded as she brushed at her eyes, further messing up her makeup, not that any of us were any better.

"Any idea how long, till you can make the move I mean?" she asked. "This weekend would be good" Liv nodded as she reached out and slipped an arm around my waist, pulling me in to her side where I happily snuggled against her.

"We have to move quickly" she said. "Before Thomas can react and try and stop it, or force me into that rigged psyche evaluation, so it's going to be soon, a few days at most, once it's approved" I nodded, backing her up.

"We'll need to find a place; god knows how long that will take. Maybe we need to look at staying in a hotel for a while" Jane shrugged.

"We have room, you could stay with us" Ana nodded.

"Doesn't matter where you're staying, as long as it's safe in LA" Kate nodded at that.

"Wherever you end up, make sure you've got room for me out there" I smiled at her, seeing the others do the same as Liv replied.

"Kate, there will always be a place for you, wherever we are" Kate smiled at that.

"Then I'll hold you to that"


	15. Chapter 15

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **15 The Plot Congeals**

Sharon's viewpoint

The scene was unpleasantly familiar, another apartment in one of South Los Angeles' lower socio-economic areas, this time it was Vermont Knolls, not too far from Florence, that in itself suggesting a possible connection between both victims, perhaps the killer didn't travel far, lived in the vicinity maybe, there had to be a reason, we just didn't know it, not yet but we would.

The current victim, an African-American woman, in her fifties from her appearance, was splayed out across her kitchen floor, a similar gaping hole in the stomach attesting to exactly what had happened here. The blood spattered across the floor and sprayed over the fridge, the walls, benches and surrounding surfaces and the lack of blood anywhere else suggested that the murder and mutilation had both happened right here.

My team and I arrived direct from headquarters and immediately set to examining and cataloguing the scene, questioning neighbours, canvassing the neighbourhood, all the basics of an investigation.

Apparently the woman's daughter had discovered the body around nine thirty this morning, she'd come around when her mother hadn't answered her phone; her horrified screams had alerted the neighbours who had called 911; she was now sitting outside in an ambulance under mild sedation to get her calmed down enough to talk coherently while Lieutenant Jefferies waited to interview her.

I'd detailed off my team and spent some time taking in the apartment as I waited for Maura's team to arrive, knowing they wouldn't be that far behind me. The apartment was small and old, the sort of place that could be afforded by someone on benefits or a minimum-wage job, it might have been old and tiny but it was someone's home, the place where they could retreat from the world and relax, or at least it had been before it became a killing ground. I took in the photos showing our victim with a younger woman, the family resemblance suggesting the daughter, a faded picture showing a younger, slimmer version of our victim, minus the facial lines and grey hair of a hard life, getting married to a slim man in the fashions of thirty years ago, she looked in her very early twenties there.

Five minutes later, as David Gabriel and Amy Sykes ran me though what we'd learned so far, Maura and her team arrived, we moved to give them room as they started setting up lights for photography and to better allow Maura to examine the body, I knew Maura would let me know what she'd found soon enough so I let her get on with her job while I did mine.

I looked up at a familiar voice to see Natalie standing in the doorway, wearing the usual disposable booties over her stilettoes and blue latex gloves on her hands, a clashing contrast with the light grey pinstripe pants suit she was wearing.

"Good morning Commander" I nodded, a little surprised to see her here actually, she'd made it a habit to attend both Major Crimes and FID incidents but this was her first time at a Robbery Homicide case, making me ask the question.

"Good morning Miss Dearing, what brings you out here today?" She grimaced.

"I saw the alert that you had another call out and when I checked the call register it looked like a repeat of the one you had last week" She shrugged. "Given the nature of the crime, and the potential for media to jump all over it when they find out about it I decided it was worth my while to be here and get acquainted with the case" I frowned.

"Have there been any media calls?" I'd worked hard to keep it quiet, I didn't need that on top of the rest of this case; fortunately Natalie shook her head.

"No thank heavens, but I thought I should be across the case before they find out anything" she said as I nodded, grateful that Natalie was conscientious enough to be proactive about it.

"Not much to tell so far, at first glance it appears similar, certainly the injuries appears to be very similar but that will be up to Doctor Isles to determine" Natalie nodded, looking over at where Maura was working on the body with narrowed, fascinated eyes as I recalled she'd studied medicine before changing careers to media. She looked back at me and nodded.

"Understood, I'll keep out of the way until you're ready to talk, in the mean time I'll start putting together the bones of a holding statement we can use when it does get out to the media" At her words I nodded slowly, aware that she was right, someone would talk, sooner or later someone always did, especially when it was something as macabre and unusual as this.

With a polite nod she stepped back, making room for Lucy Kwang who brought me up to speed on the timeline, she's already learned that the victim apparently worked as a scullery worker in a fast food place a few blocks from here, she'd apparently not turned up for work the day before yesterday and not called in sick, according to her boss that was really atypical behaviour for her. He'd tried ringing this morning to find out if she was going to be in and got no answer, something that the woman's answering machine had confirmed.

I nodded and complimented Lucy on the quick work but she played it off with a shy smile as she was joined by Martin Riggs, who confirmed that no one in the adjoining apartments had noticed anything unusual, I held a frown in at that, people in places like this tended to notice anything out of the ordinary, I'd hoped someone might have seen something, especially someone leaving with a collection of organs. That though made me mentally pull up, how would you transport a collection of bloody organs that wouldn't attract comment? Some kind of cooler bag perhaps; I made a note to talk to Maura about it.

For the next few minutes I played traffic controller, members of my team coming in, giving me information and being sent off again chasing additional information or looking into new avenues of investigation. The time passed swiftly and before it I heard my name being called.

"Good morning Commander" I turned, a small smile on my face.

"Good morning Doctor Isles, thank you for coming out" She nodded once and brought me up to date.

"The victim has been slain in a similar manner to the previous victim in Florence. A slash across the neck to kill, followed by the opening of the victim's torso to remove a number of organs" I looked down as the victim.

"Similar knives to the other attack would you say?" I asked. She nodded carefully, but this was Maura, she hated speculation.

"At first appearance I would say they do appear superficially similar, the wound to the neck is certainly consistent with a very sharp blade, while the injuries to the torso are consistent with a larger, somewhat less sharp blade, obviously my conclusions are only preliminary until I can conduct a full post mortem" I nodded, that was Maura being Maura and followed up with another question.

"Which organs were removed, the same ones as before?" I said, getting a shake of her head in response.

"Not completely, the organs removed include the liver and the spleen, the same as the previous victim, but in this case the stomach and intestines are still intact, instead the pancreas and the gall bladder have been removed" I frowned, trying to remember the particulars of the abbreviated lecture Maura had given me after her first autopsy.

Apparently, according to her research, the use of human organs wasn't really a voodoo practice, owing rather more to the black magic and witchcraft of Southern Africa. From what she had gleaned, the practice of using body parts for magical rituals was called 'muti', a Zulu word meaning "medicine.

According to Maura, belief in magic was widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, partly due to the underlying belief system which suggested that in traditional African culture there's only a certain amount of luck in society to go around. Each person receives a portion of that luck and it's therefore believed that if another person is unusually successful, then they have obtained that extra portion of luck via some underhanded means, usually with the intervention of the supernatural.

To counter someone else's extra, mystically-bolstered luck you needed your own magic luck and that was apparently best obtained through the use of strong 'muti' and it was to make 'muti' that murders were conducted; 'muti' made from human body parts were considered to be exceptionally powerful. Maura hadn't done a particularly good job of concealing her disdain for the practice, for someone with her rational, scientific mind the idea of magic, let alone magic made from human body parts, was both superstitious and foolish in the extreme.

One interesting thing I'd learned was that different organs and body parts were used to make different magic. Eyes from the dead could be used in a magic ritual to restore failing eyesight, whereas severed hands would assure business success and genitals were supposed to attract luck. All in all it had been informative and slightly disgusting; Maura had shaken her head at the idea that someone might actually believe in 'muti' in modern day America, but as Lieutenant Jefferies had so aptly put it last week, Los Angeles was ground zero for weird.

Maura looked down at the victim and shook her head before looking back at me.

"I will research which supposed magic properties reside in the pancreas and the gall bladder, it may prove of some assistance to your investigation" she said as I nodded gratefully.

"Thank you Doctor, I understand that it's a tenuous link but anything you find would be very helpful" I said, then followed up with another question. "Is it possible to determine the time of death or has the organ removal prevented that here as well?" She shook her head once.

"Unfortunately no, not without a detailed analysis back at the morgue" Maura grimaced a little. "Given the body's condition I would make a preliminary estimate of more than 12 hours however I would be cautious in using that estimate until I have a more conclusive timeframe" I smiled in appreciation.

I understand, thank you" Maura nodded quickly and spoke.

"If you will excuse me then, the team will transport the victim's body back to the morgue" I smiled and tipped my head.

"One last question before you go if I may?" I said as Maura nodded and looked at me with her head tipped slightly to one side.

"Of course" I smiled slightly and indicated the victim.

"If you wanted to transport the victim's organs, what would you recommend as the most appropriate method?" She frowned for a moment then answered.

"Transplant organs are usually transported in a sealed, sterile metal vessel which is then packed in dry ice and placed in a sealed cooler box, the box is an industry standard one, all are fundamentally identical to ensure that they are recognised and receive expeditious passage through airports and other modes of transport" She indicated the victim. "Given the significantly different circumstances at play here, I would suggest any watertight packaging would suffice to allow for their transport without leakage" I nodded as she continued. "Given the mass of the organs removed in each attack, I would suggest something of the size of a 14 quart portable cooler box would be suitable to contain the organs removed at each incident" I pursed my lips, something of that size would be easily transported and not particularly noticeable. I suddenly realise Maura was waiting politely in case I had additional questions.

Thank you doctor, that's been a big help" I got a small smile in return and I went to turn back to my team when my phone went off, the ring tone telling me it was Brenda. Frowning slightly I stepped to one side to take it, answering it the same way I did for everyone else.

"Raydor" Her warm honey voice came through clearly.

" _Hi sweetie, sorry to bother you at a scene but Will Pope's being his usual useless self_ " I worked hard not to roll my eyes…Pope. I sighed gently.

"What exactly is his latest flash of brilliance?"

" _He wants me to take over your magical body parts case_ "

"What?" I noticed heads turn around the room as I realised I'd spoken a little too loudly. I shook my head slightly and turned back to hear Brenda's response.

" _Apparently he wants it to come to Major Crimes because he's afraid of the adverse publicity he might get when the media find out; I guess he wants to be able to say it's with Major Crimes to prove we're taking it seriously_ " I frowned, taking a major case off my team, our first major case at that, would send a message to the rest of the LAPD, a very loud message, that Pope had no confidence in either my team or me.

"Chief…" I carefully kept my voice and face impassive for the benefit of the listening ears. "I don't agree with his…suggestion" Brenda's response was all I wanted to hear.

" _Me neither sweetie, so when you get back come and get me and we'll map out our counter argument to try and talk some sense into the man, god knows this isn't one of his better ideas_ " I smiled, Brenda had my back; even after all these months together it was a nice feeling after years of my supposed peers undermining and sniping and gossiping about me.

"That would be…satisfactory" That wasn't the word I wanted to use, but I was conscious of listening ears all around me. Brenda picked up on it immediately.

" _Come get me when you get back and we'll talk then_ " I could imagine the smile in those brown eyes. " _Love you sweetie_ " I nodded, working on staying impassive.

"Likewise" With that I ended the call and looked around, seeing Natalie in the hall outside the apartment and walked over, seeing her look up from her phone with a questioning look as she noticed me approaching.

"Commander?" she said, curiosity evident in her voice as I tipped my head a little further down the hall, Natalie got it immediately, leading me down a few doors before turning to face me, keeping her voice low. "Sharon?"

"Natalie, has Pope shown any interest in this case that you are aware of?" She shook her head, blonde hair sliding over her shoulders, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Not that I'm aware, I only came down here because Maura mentioned this case over the weekend as a really unusual one; when I heard the details I knew it had the potential to interest the media so when I saw your callout and read the particulars I decided to come down" I nodded and leaned in.

"Pope wants to hand the case off to Brenda" I saw her jaw tighten.

"Of course he does" she said; disgust evident in her voice. "Pope's terrified of adverse publicity so he wants to palm it off to Major Crimes, that way he looks like he's on top of things" She shook her head. "He'll probably have me draft a statement to that effect for release when the media gets wind of the case" She looked me straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry Sharon…" I shook my head once.

"Brenda and I are going to fight it, it's too early to be handing it off to Major Crimes" She pulled a face at my words.

"Well, the parameters for a Major Crimes case are a bit rubbery, basically he gets to make the call" She suddenly smiled. "On the other hand that means he has no hard and fast rules to wave in your face" I smiled grimy.

"That's what we're counting on" She nodded slowly.

"Good luck" I grimaced.

"Thanks, I think I'm going to need it"


	16. Chapter 16

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **16 Working Together**

Jane's viewpoint

I was tired, tired but happy, we'd headed to New York to see if we could help Liv out and not only found a way to do so but it meant that we'd have them out here in LA; not just here but working with us. As you'd imagine Natalie and Maura had been over the moon at the thought that they'd have Alex right here every day; no more short visits every month or so. While the reasons hadn't been ideal the end results had been, besides while Mendoza seemed okay to work with, it meant I'd have Liv as my partner, something I was really looking forward to.

I was still a little tired after arriving back late, flying in via airline last night, it might have been first class but I'd been spoiled by the flight over and hadn't slept much on the flight, instead chatting idly with Ana who hadn't got a whole lot of sleep either.

This morning was a new day and I'd just done the morning coffee run with Ahmed Kahn, chatting to him he'd turned out to have an interesting backstory.

His family was originally from India but he'd bucked the trend and joined the LAPD, something not all that common in that particular community. Before he'd transferred into Major Crimes Brenda had mentioned something had happened not long after he'd graduated from university; he'd studied computer science and was working in Silicon Valley when whatever had happened had driven him to drop that career and join the department. He'd done okay on the beat but his expertise with computers had quickly led him first into the white-collar crime team and eventually to us.

He was a nice enough guy, very quiet though, in his own way he reminded me a bit of Frost back in Boston. Khan was at least as much tech head as detective, some of the things he could make a computer do were almost scary; that skill was incredibly useful and was why we had him in the team but in my opinion he needed more seasoning, a bit of toughening up as a detective out in the field, for that reason Brenda was likely to assign Mendoza to ride herd on him once Liv arrived, to make sure he got up to speed the way the team needed, no one wanted an unknown, let alone a weak link, in the team.

We returned just in time for a joint team meeting, us and Robbery / Homicide both; I nodded to Sanchez and Gabriel as they led their team in, I didn't really know the others; well I knew Kwang from studying with her for the sergeant's exam but didn't really know any of the others in Sharon's new team. A couple of minutes of introductions followed by small talk ensued before Brenda and Sharon breezed in and took places at opposite ends of the table, their teams took their respective seats around them. Brenda naturally didn't waste time, jumping right into it.

"Morning everyone, sorry we were late, we got held up with Chief Pope. The reason you're all here is because as of this morning we are working a joint case" There was a small wave of movement around the table as heads lifted and turned at that but everyone stayed silent, waiting for more details. "Robbery / Homicide's picked up a major case that's turned out a little different so naturally Chief Pope was all for taking it off them and dropping it on us" I saw frowns sprout on the faces of Sharon's team at that as Sharon seamlessly picked up the thread.

"The Chief and I both had issues with that, it was not only disrespectful to the team but it was handled exactly the way things were in the bad old days when Robbery / Homicide was under the previous regime" There were nods all around the table at that, the previous head of Robbery/ Homicide, that ass Taylor, had what could be called a 'combative' relationship with Brenda and relations between the teams had ended up poisonous, in large part because Pope had handled the relationship poorly, snatching cases off them and dropping them onto Major Crimes whenever it looked a little unusual or high profile.

"Instead we proposed that this should be handled as a joint investigation" Sharon said, looking round the room. "Major Crimes has a well-earned reputation for solving difficult cases, I intend that Robbery Homicide should build that same reputation" Brenda jumped back in.

"Which is something that won't happen if every time a case gets interesting it gets yanked out of your hands and dropped into ours" I nodded, nothing would undermine a new team's reputation faster than the suggestion the brass didn't trust them to deliver the goods. "For that reason we argued that this should be a shared case, we will be working together on this" She said as she looked round the table. "I actually suggested that it should remain with Robbery / Homicide however the Commander and I are only so persuasive in the face of Chief's Pope's…intransigence" There were a few nods at that as Sharon spoke up from the other end.

"As we will be working together on this case we will be spending the next hour bringing the Major Crimes team up to speed on what we have" She looked to David. "Lieutenant Gabriel, would you and Lieutenant Jefferies be so kind as to describe the crime scenes and what little we have so" The room's attention turned to David as he started speaking.

"What we have is two victims, both middle aged, both from lower socio-economic areas; Florence and Vermont Knoll, both killed in their homes after having their throats cut, then their stomachs were cut open and a number of organs were removed" While the others listened I nodded, I'd already heard about the case from Maura; Andy Flynn leaned forward and spoke.

"Any sign of forced entry?" Jefferies handled that one.

"Local cops kicked in the door on the first one so no real way to tell. The second though, daughter opened the door with her key, our examination of the apartment found no sign of forced entry there" Flynn sat back, his lips pursed as he nodded for Gabriel to continue.

"The first victim was a 55-year old contract cleaner; according to Doctor Isles she had been dead for at least three days before local police entered the apartment…"

 **New York**

Today was going to be a really good day, the day he finally got to shaft Olivia Benson and make it stick, permanently. Lieutenant Ed Tucker of the NYPD's Internal Affairs section had been looking forward to this day for a damned long time, the bitch was bent and he knew it, he hadn't found the proof yet, but that was just proof she'd been good at hiding her tracks. That and the fact her co-workers seemed to be willing to cover for her.

He wasn't sure what hold Benson had over the people she worked with but none had ever given her up, maybe she'd threatened them that she'd use her dyke lover's money and contacts to ruin them if they did, maybe they were in on it too though he'd not pinned anything down on them yet; but somehow she'd skated past every allegation, while Internal Affairs had never turned up anything conclusive, to Tucker that just meant she was smart as well as crooked.

None of that was going to help her today though, today she was going down hard and he got to deliver the good news. She'd not showed up for her mandatory psyche evaluation yesterday, in itself grounds for disciplinary action, he was looking forward to dropping the charges at her feet, the ones that would lead her straight out of the department in disgrace. Or he had been until he ran into this old fool.

"Get out of my way" The doorman at Cabot and Benson's building was unmoved,

"Let's see a warrant first" he said, grim-faced. Tucker shook his head at the man.

"I don't need a warrant, this is a public building" The old guy wasn't buying it.

"This area is, but the elevators aren't, so let's see your warrant" Tucker shook his head at the greying guy in his long jacket and polished shoes.

"Don't give me a hard time old man" The guy's eyes narrowed and for a second there Tucker saw something there, something…dangerous.

"You, you're actually trying to threaten me?" the doorman said, making Tucker shake his head and lean forward into the guy's space a little.

"Just letting you know you don't want to mess with me" Tucker said. The doorman stood a little straighter, a little prouder as her stared Tucker down.

"Listen you jumped up asshole, I had 30 years in Special Forces, Granada, Panama, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, every shitty hell hole on this planet, and every one of them full to the brim with people trying their damndest to kill me" The old guy stood there, regarding Tucker with contemptuous disdain. "And I'm supposed to be afraid of an arrogant, officious punk like you?" He shook his head. "Fuck you. Now piss off and don't come back without a fucking warrant"

"Or what?" At Tucker's question the doorman smiled unpleasantly, like he held all the aces and knew it.

"First thing is I call the local precinct, they know me well enough to send a car immediately. Then I stand between you and those elevators until they arrive and drag you out of here" He shrugged. "Or you could do something really stupid and I defend myself from your unprovoked attack, something the camera's that cover the lobby will see and then I press charges" The man smiled again. "Your choice see, but I'm not gonna be responsible for any injuries you suffer while I defend myself" Tucker hid a worried frown, cameras…and covered it with a growl.

"You think a lot of yourself don't you old man?" The grey-haired man smiled coldly as he replied.

"No, I just don't think a lot of a jumped up little shit like you" he said and smiled.

"We'll see how tough you are when I turn up with a warrant" Tucker blustered, though he was already worried, a warrant might be hard to come by for this. The old guy shrugged.

"Then do so, but until then fuck off"

"I'm gonna remember you old man" At Tuckers words the old guy took a step forward into Tuckers space and smiled coldly.

"Go ahead. The names Charlie Weaver, Master Sergeant; US Army Retired" One side of Weaver's mouth curled up. "Go look me up you little fucker, then if you think you're hard enough, come back again, I'll be happy to toss you out on your well-padded bureaucratic ass"

"Keep talking you prick, you're just digging yourself deeper in my shit list" Tucker snarled. "I've dealt with plenty of so-called tough guys, you all fold when the shit hits the fan" Weaver smiled widely.

"You bluster but don't have the balls to back it up; if you did you'd have done something already" One hand came up and beckoned Tucker forward. "So either take your best shot or piss off out of here, you're not welcome in my building"

"You really think your tough shit don't you?" Tucker said, drawing a shrug from Weaver.

"Enough to know I can still take a snotty-nosed punk like you, and when the court sees a guy attacking a vet twenty five years your senior, who do you think they're gonna believe?" He shook his head once. "Now get the hell out of here and don't come back without a warrant"

Tucker debated pushing past the guy but if there really were cameras covering everything he didn't dare do anything, not after the incident at the 12th where he'd confronted Benson and her fuck buddy Beckett, that had almost ended up his career, he couldn't afford another incident, not so soon after that one, so instead he shot the guy a venomous look.

"I'll be back" The doorman was patently unimpressed.

"Not without a warrant you won't be" He gave Tucker a disdainful once over. "I remember you; the last time you were here you badged your way past to go hassle one of our tenants, they weren't real happy about it and neither am I, well that ain't happening again" The grey haired old man shook his head. "Come back with a warrant or don't come back at all, now beat it"

Knowing when to cut his losses Tucker turned and walked out, he needed to find another way to get to Benson. She couldn't hole up here forever, he'd find a way; it just needed some thought.


	17. Chapter 17

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **17 Arrival**

Alex's viewpoint

We'd flown into LAX reasonably late last night; Jane had met us at the arrivals gate and taken us back to their place where we'd stayed the night, they wouldn't hear of us staying in a hotel. This morning we'd be collecting the keys to the house we were borrowing from Rick Castle's author friend from the local estate agent; the house was out in East Malibu, a fair drive out apparently, especially compared to New York.

Kate had rung us the day after we'd discussed our move, apparently she had told Rick what was happening and he'd mentioned that one of his author buddies, a James Patterson, had bought a property in Los Angeles and maybe we could use that. I'd been all for staying in a hotel but Rick had spoken to his friend and they'd agreed that we could use it for a month or so while we found a place.

As Kate had put it, this cleared Patterson's markers that he owed Rick from their regular poker nights. When I'd said I didn't want Rick to lose she'd just laughed and explained the money was incidental, it was really about the bragging rights. This way James Patterson had just helped us out and got out from under all the trash talking he'd have otherwise got at their next poker night. So now we had a place to stay, rent free for the next month.

Maura and I had driven through Sunday morning traffic to collect the keys and then headed off to meet Jane and Liv at the house, the top of her Merc down to enjoy the sun as the wind tousled our hair, making me smile. In fact I was doing a lot of that right now, I had a lot to be happy about; we'd moved close to our friends, we'd managed to get out from under all the unpleasantness back home and our relocation had gone as smoothly as we could have hoped.

It helped that we'd really just brought clothes, what we were wearing today had come in our checked luggage, the rest was due to be delivered tomorrow by the movers; almost everything else was staying in the apartment for now. Today was a 'get the keys and see what we needed' day, we'd go shopping for food and toiletries and linen and stuff after we worked out what we were short of. The trip took us through parts of LA I wasn't familiar with from our previous visits before we ended up on the Pacific Coast Highway heading up the coast paralleling the surf, eventually turning off near the Malibu Pier and up into steep hills, the roads lined with expensive houses, many behind walls. Obviously the place we were going to was one of them as the realtor lady had handed us a padded envelope that contained two mill keys plus half a dozen swipe access cards, apparently the keys were back up's for the cards, all the locks worked on the swipe cards.

We started slowing down as we approached the street, then started counting house numbers before Maura spotted Jane's cruiser parked a bit further up the road. We pulled up in the driveway leading to who knows what, the walls were a good eight feet high and the gate was wrought metalwork with nothing but trees visible behind it. I hopped out and swiped the gate open as Maura drove through, then Jane before I followed them down the descending driveway, it curved to the left then back again, hiding the house from the street. As I walked down the driveway, the gate closing automatically behind me, I heard Jane's voice.

"What the hell?" Liv's was right behind her.

"Oh my god" I wasn't sure what was the matter until I turned the corner and saw the house in front of me, bringing me to a dead stop. It was huge, not big, not large, quite simply it was huge. I was used to big houses in the Hamptons, but this was something else again. It was built in a curved pseudo-Spanish style surmounting the hill and from where I was standing I could see it had a view out over the Pacific. Maura and Jane's cars were out on a large round courtyard overlooking an ornamental lake with a ramp leading off to one side and down into what was obviously an underground car park. Liv turned to me, her face full of surprise.

"Did you have any idea…any clue?" She trailed off as I shook my head and made my way down to join her. I stood there for a moment, just trying to take it all in before retrieving one of the key cards and walking towards the big double doors at the front, the others trailing along after me.

Swiping the card in the slot to one side of the doors caused the carved wooden doors to unlock with an audible click, I gave it a push, expecting some resistance but they easily swung wide, they were big but beautifully balanced, the craftsmanship obviously exceptional. The others crowded in to take in the marbled foyer leading to the rest of the house. The house was dark with all of the blinds closed, something we'd need to deal with. I was just about to step in when I remembered the real estate woman telling me I had to insert the card into a slot in the hall by the door within 20 seconds to deactivate the alarm, I quickly did just that and then turned to the others with a hasty explanation.

"The card turns off the security systems but it has to go in within 20 seconds" They nodded as Liv drifted past me, tentatively opening the first door and peering in, then looking back.

"I've never seen a hall closet as big as a bedroom before" I wandered up and took in the room; it was way too large to be called a closet, seeing the hanging closets and shelves for bags and such and recognising its function.

"Probably a cloakroom" Jane frowned.

"In a private house?" she queried as I shrugged while Maura replied.

"Given the exceptional size of this residence perhaps it is intended to be used for entertaining significant numbers of guests" She smiled. "The house is certainly large enough" There was no arguing with that as we made our way back out and started exploring. The first thing Jane found was a large light switch panel with literally dozens of switches, she solved the question of which did what by turning them all on, lighting the place up like a beacon from light fittings everywhere, chandeliers on the high arching roof, the walls, door lintels, the skirting boards, you name it, bathing everything in light.

We found the top floor was the living and formal entertaining area, there were eight big bedrooms on this level, all of them bigger than the master bedroom at our apartment in New York; each with an en-suite bathroom, its own balcony and walk in armoire. Then there was a large kitchen that looked like it had been lifted from a top-end restaurant, obviously designed for open plan cooking and casual dining at the massive island bench, lining one wall were four double glass-door refrigerators, another set up for chilling wine and two double glass door freezers. Then there were the massive gas-fired ranges, the ovens, the pizza oven, the rotisserie and the massed banks of dishwashers and microwaves; seriously you could feed an army from this place. I suppressed a smile at two less likely cooks than Liv and I working in and around this magnificent temple to the culinary arts. Maura however was in heaven, carefully examining every nook and cranny, she was a great cook and this was obviously her idea of nirvana.

I was looking down out a window over the large and inviting swimming pool on the next level down and what looked like the start of some nice open gardens when Liv started yelling for us to come to her quick.

Following her voice I walked from the kitchen and entertaining area in through a set of large bi-fold polished wooden doors into what was obviously the formal dining room, the large, obviously hand-crafted table and matching chairs would easily seat twenty, nine a side with one at each end but that wasn't what had caught her attention, she was looking for something at one end of the room, finally finding whatever she was searching for with an 'aha' of triumph, she turned and took us in.

"I had a look through the curtains, you are not going to believe what's out there" Jane was trying for unimpressed.

"Yeah, well out with it" Maura was rather more diplomatic.

"What have you discovered Olivia?" Liv just grinned and pushed a button as the curtains silently slid out of the way, leaving us all gawking, my jaw was hanging and I didn't even realise.

The widening view revealed a wide curve of floor to ceiling panoramic widows, letting the light flood in and exposing the vast blue Pacific Ocean out to the distant horizon. I went to say something when the curtains moved round the curve and exposed a view down the coast and over parts of Los Angeles; this place had an astonishing view, one to die for.

"Oh my god" I didn't realise I'd spoken until I'd done it; the others were much the same. The sunlight flooding in bounced off the polished marble floors and reflected off the three chandelier light fittings over the table, bathing the whole room in bright light, I could imagine a meal here would be something very special during the day and even more so at night.

Eventually we dragged ourselves away from marvelling at the view and went through the rest of the house, Jane and Liv found an elevator that went down three levels and promptly went exploring while Mura and I made our way down the wide stairway, coming down into a less formal entertaining area.

There was a large open living area, full of comfortable lounges and chairs with several big screen televisions, a top end surround sound system, a games room with a massive pool and snooker table in the middle of the room plus a roulette table and a professional poker table straight out of a casino, all served by a dumb-waiter from the kitchen above.

There were several lavishly appointed individual offices plus a conference room with professional standard teleconferencing facilities, a home theatre that seated twenty in large, luxurious reclining lounges and an exercise room that would shame many neighbourhood gym's; I'm a regular at my gym in New York but I couldn't recognise several of the machines there. Nearby was a dedicated bathroom and sauna while a commercial grade laundry that wouldn't have been out of place in a big hotel was next door.

A few minutes later Jane and Liv joined us, they'd found the underground car park was big, it had marked bays for 20 cars, while the level below was a massive, climate controlled wine cellar, apparently the dumb waiter went all the way down to the cellar, allowing drinks to be delivered to both levels of the house. This place had everything, with Liv reporting that the house even had what looked like a panic room built into the basement, all reinforced concrete and steel.

We shook our heads at the size and thought that had gone into this house as Jane looked to us.

"Where did Rick say his friend got this place?" I looked around and smiled.

"Apparently it belonged to one of the big studio senior executives; it was his trophy home I guess. Anyway he lost his job and had to liquidate his assets quickly so Mister Patterson was able to pick it up for a good price, especially compared to what it must have cost to build and given it came with the furnishings" Jane nodded.

"I'm no expert" she said. "But this place must have cost huge money" Liv nodded as Maura commented.

"Given the apparent size of the land, the views we saw earlier and the size of this house, the quality of the fittings and furnishings, a price of well in excess of one hundred million for construction and tens of millions more for the fit out would not be out of the question" At that we all shook our heads for a moment, even Maura and I, far more used to some of the trappings of wealth than Jane and Liv, were stunned by this place, it was a massive temple to ego, wealth, status and entertaining.

A few moments later we were making our way outside, past the swimming pool and associated grotto, the cabana with its own self-contained entertaining area and barbeque kitchen, the nearby tennis court, taking in the grounds winding down the hill. The large grassed area we'd seen from the house gave way to a steep drop traversed by a long curved staircase before opening into a beautiful large grove overlooking the ocean. I don't know how long we just stood there, just soaking in the view, before my cell rang, it was Natalie.

A few seconds later I ended the call.

"They're here, I'll let them in" Jane and Liv exchanged cheeky grins.

"I have GOT to see Nat's reaction to this place" Liv said and Jane nodded.

"Hell yeah" I shook my head as I noticed Maura's sly smile and matched it with my own.

Natalie was as awe-struck as the rest of us, wandering from room to room trying not to look too much like a kid at the toy store, Ana on the other hand had given the place a cursory look over and then, after talking to Maura, had made a bee-line for the kitchen, I swear the woman had an orgasm when she saw it, she was another gourmet cook and right now she was in culinary heaven. When I left them, she and Maura were deep in discussion about the feasts they could create in here, something I have to say I was looking forward to experiencing.

I found Liv and Jane in the gym; Liv was on her back lifting a bar with taut cables attached to each end connected to the floor. Seeing me there, Jane explained that the cables ran into the floor where they connected to a pulley mechanism you could set to simulate to any weight so you didn't need the normal weights on the end. It also had a safety system where you had to keep your thumb pressed to a button on the bar while lifting, if the button was released, the pull on the bar immediately went off so it was much safer than your usual weights system. I have to say I was more interested in the play of muscles under Liv's olive skin than the technology, I knew which I was going to get more use out of.

We finally adjourned to the kitchen and gathered around the bench, talking.

"How long did you say you were planning to stay here?" At Jane's question I shrugged.

"Until we find a place, I was thinking something like your place or maybe a downtown apartment" Maura nodded as Natalie levered herself up onto the island bench and let her legs swing, hooked at the ankles.

"We have got to do something while you're here, it would be a criminal waste not to" Ana nodded, backing Nat up.

"Criminal, bad look for a lawyer and a cop that" I smiled as Liv tossed her a teasing grin.

"What are you planning on cooking then?" She emphasised the 'you', not that Ana minded.

"Oh wow, I could cook anything here" She looked around, obviously cataloguing all the appliances then turned to Maura. "What do you think Maura?" The blonde nodded once, Maura had obviously been considering it.

"Italian, there is plenty of range space for multiple dishes" She looked over the stove tops and nodded slightly. "I believe that Sharon would also appreciate the opportunity to cook here" Liv glanced my way and I nodded, speaking up.

"Well once we're settled in we can arrange a lunch, all of us, Brenda and Sharon, I don't know who else?" Maura smiled.

"I am sure we could make some suggestions as to the guest list" Ana nodded.

"One thing you have to do is invite Rick and Kate out here for it; they helped make this…" she waved around the house. "…all happen" Liv nodded.

"That's a good plan, let's get settled in and we can start planning when and who" I smiled happily, already looking forward to this big empty house full of laughter and happy people. Nat jumped off the bench.

"I love the look of the pool, we have to go swimming" Maura nodded agreeably.

"Indeed, however we will need to do some shopping first, food, beverages, toiletries and such" Nat pulled a face at Maura's practical suggestions then smiled with her usual sunny optimism, turning to Liv and Jane.

"You said there was a wine cellar?" Jane nodded.

"Empty though" Nat glanced at Ana and they shared a smile.

"Then it's a good thing we brought something to kick it off" she said as Ana pulled a couple of bottles of good white wine from a cooler bag. That set off a quick hunt for glasses before we were all set with a charged glass as Ana looked around.

"A toast?" she said. I looked at the others as Jane spoke up.

"Al? Liv?" It's your day" I nodded and looked to Liv, seeing her smiling back at me as the words came unbidden to me; I held up my glass.

"To new beginnings"

There were smiles all round as we clinked glasses.

"To new beginnings"


	18. Chapter 18

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **18 Internal Affairs Entanglements**

New York

I arrived at the 16th Precinct's SVU unit in a foul mood; unable to get the warrant I needed to get into Benson's building I'd been forced to stake out their apartment for two days, two damned days with no sign of Benson or her lezzie lawyer Cabot either. They'd not come or gone, plus Cabot's car was still parked in the garage there. It was like they'd vanished into thin air.

With nothing to show for that I'd decided to shake down Benson's associates, starting with her superior officer, Cragen at the 16th SVU, I figured he'd have a good idea of where she'd gone.

I would have preferred to have gone after Beckett, she and Benson went back a long way, friends supposedly so she'd sure as hell know where the bitch was hiding. I'd done some digging and both of them were similar, they'd been beat cops together before moving into vice and robbery, eventually working their way up to SVU and Homicide. They'd somehow both managed to leech onto million dollar teats, Benson onto Cabot and Beckett onto the author Richard Castle and were both obviously sucking hard, using that money to buy influence and support; that had to be how they had the people working with them covering for them. Given how loyal Beckett was to Benson I had my suspicions that they also were, or had been dykes on the side, it was the only explanation that made sense; why else cover up for Benson?

That said, it wasn't wise to go near the 12th precinct right now, her boss, Gates, would throw a spasm if she saw me and I didn't need to stir up that particular hornet's nest again right now. No; there'd be plenty of time for that when Thomas was Commissioner and settling old scores, including with Gates. I'd thought of going after Beckett at her home, till I learned she shared it with Castle and the place was sporting a serious security system, apparently they'd had a few incidents and weren't taking any chances. Without a warrant I wasn't going to get in and you could bet Beckett would run to Gates the moment I showed my face round her place without a warrant.

No for this I needed someone else a little more…vulnerable to my particular brand of persuasion; Cragen at the 16th fitted that profile perfectly. Ignoring the foul looks from the rest of the SVU squad I walked into his office and shut the door, skipping any pleasantries as I put him on the spot.

"Captain, I need Benson's location and I'm betting you know which hole she's gone to ground in" Cragen shook his head as he answered.

"She's long gone Lieutenant; I don't know why it's of any concern to you" I stared down at him

"I'm investigating open cases against her, so I want her location" He looked up at me, seemingly not cowed, though we'd see about that.

"What open cases? As her superior I'm not aware of any outstanding cases, especially not with IA" Cragen stared at me across the desk, hostility evident in every line, not that I cared, he'd been Benson's superior officer for a decade so he must have been covering for her, he'd get his in due course, once I'd broken Benson. I just shrugged, showing how little his issues bothered me.

"Like I said, not your concern, so where is she?" I said. Cragen waved his hand over the desk in a sweeping movement.

"You have got to be kidding me, nothing you've ever thrown at her has stuck, she's clean for god's sake, leave her alone" I smiled, knowing I had the power to force him to give up his dyke pal.

"Let me tell you how this is going to go Captain" I stated as I leaned in, one hand resting on his desk as I did, showing him who was boss. "You're getting close to retirement and unless you want an investigation into your affairs, something that'll maybe mess up your pension, maybe stuff it up completely, you're going to tell me where she is" Cragen leaned back away from me, outrage on his face.

"You don't have the balls, or the authority" I grinned at his weak response; we both knew who had the upper hand here.

"Just watch me" He stared up at me.

"On what grounds?" I shrugged, unconcerned as I explained.

"Whatever the hell I like, it's not that hard, god knows I've done this enough times already, so what's one more?" I let him digest that for a few seconds then prodded him. "Now are going to help me or do I have a talk to administration, let them know there are some…irregularities in your behaviour which require a prolonged investigation by IA?" Cragen obviously thought about it for a moment then obviously folded.

"Fine, she's gone, out of your reach" I frowned at that then shook my head as I replied.

"No one is ever out of my reach, where is she?" I wasn't expecting the answer though.

"Benson's on a year-long secondment out of New York" I thought about it for all of five seconds then snarled at him, calling him out on his BS.

"Bull shit!" Surprisingly Cragen smiled, he obviously knew something he thought I couldn't deal with.

"If you can't handle the truth…" He left the words hanging as I stared down at him through narrowed eyes suspiciously, like she'd ever leave her rich sugar mommy…

"You expect me to believe she'd go anywhere without her pet lezzie lawyer?" I sneered down at the old man across the table. "Sure, try something a little more believable" Cragen didn't flinch, instead sitting back in his chair as he spoke.

"They're both on secondment, Cabot with the Los Angeles DA's office and Benson with the LAPD" I frowned at that, if he was telling the truth…Cragen suddenly smiled happily. "Good luck messing with them there" He obviously thought he'd got one over me; I shook my head and let him know what was going to happen.

"This isn't over" Cragen seemed to have grown a backbone.

"It is right now, so I have work to do so why don't you get the hell out of my office" Realising I couldn't get any more out of Cragen and knowing I needed to investigate his tale, I told him that if he'd lied I'd be back to deal with him then turned and left, ignoring the openly hostile stares from Benson's co-conspirators there in SVU, after all being hated was part of the job.

I headed back to my office as I thought it all through, looking for a way to confirm Cragen's story without leaving too much of a trail. I struck upon an idea and once back at my desk I searched the internal 1PP phone directory for Cabot's office. A few seconds later I was listening to it ring.

" _ADA Novak, can I help you?_ " It was a woman's voice as I played it polite.

"Hi, I was ringing for ADA Cabot, is she there please?" The woman's response was immediate.

" _ADA Cabot is on assignment to another role at the moment, I'm handling her role as SVU prosecutor in the interim. Can I help you?_ " Well, that aligned with what Cragen had said, damn…

"No thanks, it's not that important. Thanks anyway" With that I hung up and sat back. My next call was to administration, five minutes later it was confirmed; Benson was on secondment for six to twelve months on the far side of the goddamned country. ' _Well fuck!_ '

Benson had done a runner, somewhere she thought we couldn't get at her, the fucking bitch. I had to admit it was a smart move though, this way she'd managed to dodge the psych assessment which would have seen her never be a real cop again and done it in a way that avoided any blowback. I wondered how in hell she'd managed to pull that off so quickly, probably something to do with Cabot's money, all that money translated into influence which opened doors and pulled strings though to my way of thinking it was just another way Benson got around the rules.

No matter though, I'd find her and break her, plus I'd make sure her arrogant ass lawyer girlfriend got what was coming to her too, something I'd couldn't wait to see happen. Still while that might take time with them both away for the next year, it could wait. What couldn't wait was giving Thomas the bad news.

Thirty seconds later I was on the phone to Deputy Commissioner Thomas' office where his secretary put me right through to him. I didn't waste words.

"Benson's flown the coop"

" _What the hell are you talking about?_ " I knew he wasn't going to take what I was going to say next well, not at all.

"She's gone, taken a secondment to the LAPD for the next six to twelve months, same as Cabot" I hadn't been wrong, Thomas was seriously pissed off, something his voice did an excellent job of conveying down the phone line.

" _Damn it, I don't care. That crazy bitch threatened me, me god damn it, I want her head_ " I shook my head. I didn't like Benson, she was dirty, I'd never been able to prove it but I knew she was. Thomas on the other hand hated her with a passion, ruining her was his intention then having her either broken and scavenging on the street or tossed in jail where the inmates would kill her. Realising he was furious I tried to talk him back off the ledge.

"Well, she's out of our jurisdiction now, for at least the next six to twelve months"

" _Like hell she is._ _Who the hell signed off on this anyway?_ " I grimaced, knowing he wasn't going to like this piece of news any more than the first.

"According to administration it was endorsed by her Captain and forwarded with a recommendation by the Precinct Commander to the Commissioner's office" I paused. "Reagan approved it" There was silence for a few seconds before Thomas spoke.

" _I'll get to the bottom of this_ " The call ended abruptly, leaving me listening to dead air.

"Well shit" I shook my head, wondering if I'd done the right thing getting hooked up with Thomas, not that I'd had much option, not after that bitch Gates had saved Benson's ass from me then personally ratted me out to Commissioner Reagan. Thomas had the option to fire me but instead had me running around, doing his dirty work, in particular stealing case files and ruining cops. Obviously he needed a deniable asset and that was me.

It wasn't where I'd expected to end up, that's for sure, but on the other hand having a grateful deputy commissioner in my pocket was my ticket to Captain so it wasn't like I had much choice.

Not anymore.


	19. Chapter 19

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **19 Olivia's first day**

Olivia's viewpoint

I was sitting on the balcony of this ridiculously huge house, sipping a beer and watching the sun go down, reflecting on my first day at work out here while waiting for Alex to get in from her first day too.

I'd had to get used to the Los Angeles traffic, in New York I'd have caught the subway or a cab or maybe even walked, none of them were really an option here, the distances were too great and I was still trying to get a handle on the public transport system, it was nothing like back home, that was for sure.

I'd got a lift in with Alex, her office was six blocks west of the Parker Centre and Jane had dropped me back here after work this afternoon but I'd eventually have to get a car of my own if we were going to make this work. The place we were staying in was a damned long way out of town, way too far to have to ask Jane to make a long journey out of her way each day.

We'd left plenty of time to get in, too much actually, I'd arrived 25 minutes early, enough time to grab a leisurely coffee and a muffin before heading into the LAPD's imposingly huge, stylised-glass headquarters building here; my day hadn't got off to the best of starts, cooling my heels in the lobby for a while as I waited for someone to arrive, sign me in and escort me up to Major Crimes.

Jane breezed in ten minutes later and walked me up as we chatted about the traffic, I noted the building was a hell of a lot different than the one the 16th had back home, an observation reinforced by my first sight of Major Crimes, all modern open plan, dominated by a couple of huge white boards covered in images and notes on the wall at one end and Brenda's office at the other where she could look out over her team through floor to ceiling glass. As we walked in I could see it was empty, Jane following my gaze and mentioning she was probably up briefing the boss, a Chief Pope, on a couple of cases. That was another difference; back in New York the brass didn't want to know about most of our cases, here I was reporting to a Deputy Chief and the cases were important enough that the LAPD's Chief wanted to be briefed on them. That was going to take some getting used to.

I got introduced to the rest of the squad, a mix of old and new. Provenza and Flynn were old school cops; been there, done that and had the scars to prove it, both physical and mental I guessed. They'd been partners for a long time and it showed. Flynn gave me some grief about being another blow-in from the East; I was wondering what his problem was when he fixed me with a look and asked which teams I supported. I shrugged and told him the Met's, Knicks, Jets, Rangers and Red Bulls, naturally.

That got me an eye roll and a grumble, something about being overrun with damned easterners, at which point Jane chimed in and told him to suck it up, it wasn't her or my fault he supported losers. I nodded sagely as I worked out what was happening right then and there, Flynn had no beef with me specifically, I was just collateral damage; Jane and Flynn were different sides of an obviously long-running dispute and I'd just been dragged into the mix. I shook my head and saw Provenza glance my way and flash me a wink, making me smile, I could handle a bit of cross-team sports rivalry, god knows I could give as good as I got.

Mikki Mendoza was interesting, Jane casually mentioned she was involved with Andrea Hobbs, a District Attorney that Alex would be working with; Mendoza was both very pretty and pretty intense, I could see her sizing me up as we were introduced. No macho shit like a crushing handshake, just a deeply appraising look and a nod that had ' _wait and see_ ' written all over it.

Her partner was also interesting; Ahmed Kahn, young for a detective, late-20s maybe, he looked definitely Indian sub-continent, it fitted with the name. Khan had a weird combination of eagerness and reserve, intelligence and a little uncertainty so I made a note to follow up on him with Jane later. The audio-visual tech was a guy named James Watson, though it seemed everyone called him Buzz; he handled the crime scene imagery and video and general tech work which was something I wasn't used to, having that capability right on hand; he was quiet but set off my gaydar, nothing overt, just a tingle.

Jane explained that the team had recently changed a lot, Brenda's previous team had been with her for over seven years pretty much unchanged however, as part of a reorganisation of another squad, two of her team had been promoted and gone to Sharon's newly revamped Robbery / Homicide squad while another had made Captain and gone to the technical and surveillance people at the Special Investigative Service, the same place Mendoza had come from.

Jane walked me round the floor showing me where the toilets and the kitchen was, the interrogation rooms and the conference room, plus the audio-visual room, I have to say it was a hell of a lot nicer than I was used to back in New York, brighter, newer, shinier and more spread out, which kinda summed up LA compared to New York, especially Manhattan.

I got shown to my desk across from Jane's, given a login to the computer and a tour of the system by Kahn, apparently computers were his thing; it was kinda similar, kinda different from the one I was used to, but not so different that I'd have too much difficulty using it. They used Outlook, something I was happy about given I didn't have to learn a new email system too, opening it I found that an account had been set up and I already had several emails, one from the IT people reminding me to change my passwords after logging in with the generic one I'd been given and instructions on how to, a pro-forma welcome email ostensibly from Chief Pope but more likely his secretary or from HR, plus a couple of department-wide emails.

Kahn showed me the file system, pointing out the folders that held the open cases, telling me we'd have a run through of them at the morning meeting, once Brenda, or the Chief as he called her, got back from her briefing. Once Kahn was done with me Jane then walked me over to a list on the wall with everyone's coffee order listed, she got me to write mine on the list and told me we'd be heading down to fill it sometime between ten and ten thirty. There was instant in the break room but people only used it when they couldn't be bothered going out or didn't have the time to get a decent coffee. She grimaced a bit when she explained that happened a bit more often than she liked, something I could totally understand. A few minutes later Brenda breezed in, then made a sharp turn when she spotted me at my desk, walking over with a smile.

"Sergeant Benson, welcome to Major Crimes" I stood to shake her hand, giving her a smile in return. Her offer to take me in and help get Alex set up here in LA had been completely unexpected and I owed her big time, I owed all of them. "Come into my office and we'll have a quick chat" I nodded and followed her into her office, she didn't close the door so I guessed it was nothing too important. She gestured towards one of her seats and threw herself into the seat behind her desk before pulling open her top drawer and fishing out a candy; a Ding Dong by the look of it. At my amused expression she just shook her head as she tore the wrapper off.

"Smirk all you want Olivia Benson, you don't have to deal with Will Pope, luckily for you" She took a quick bite and sighed in pleasure, chewing quickly and swallowing before continuing. "For the Chief of the whole damned LAPD he seems to find way too many opportunities to waste my time keeping him up to date" She shook her head. "Not like we both don't have much better things to be doing with our time..." She smiled again. "Anyway, welcome to the squad, have you been shown where everything is yet? The usual things like the break room, cafe, ladies, that sort of thing?" I nodded.

"Yes thanks Chief…" It seemed that's what everyone called her, at least at work. "Jane showed me round. She said she'd walk me up to HR later this morning to swap this..." I tapped the visitor badge. "...for a proper access card" Brenda nodded.

"Excellent. Normally I wouldn't pair you up with a permanent partner, after years together I'd started swapping people around to break any bad habits and get a chance to get used to different viewpoint but with all the recent changes to the team and all though, I'm partnering people up again, at least for the moment." She took another bite of her treat before continuing. "Flynn and Provenza work well together, as well they should after all this time on the squad. Mendoza can show Kahn the ropes, he's got some experience but needs some more seasoning and it was either Mendoza or Jane. I decided that you and Jane should partner up, I'm sure you two'll work well together" I nodded.

"I sure hope so, or Alex and Maura will kill us both" She smiled and nodded.

"That they surely will" she said. "Most of the team's new, Jane's been here barely six months, Mendoza and Kahn joined a little over a month ago" I nodded, lots of newbies, though Jane and likely Mendoza had plenty of experience under their belts, Kahn maybe not so much. "Mendoza is our liaison to the Gang Task Force and the Special Investigative Service team and has good contacts with the drug squad. Kahn's a wizz with computers, helping dig up all sorts of things, plus he was with the cyber crimes unit before we snatched him up, not that it's called that of course. The Accounting, Financial and Computer Fraud Investigation Task Force, to give it its proper name, hence the shorter nickname"

I smiled, I knew exactly what she meant, bureaucracies love to give things impressive sounding names. Brenda took another bite of her snack and smiled happily, I'd heard about her sweet tooth already, heard her being teased about it at Jane and Maura's, seems they weren't exagerating, even as I got a finger waved in my direction.

"I see that look Liv, you behave yourself or I have a mind to get you to stand in for me at a couple of Pope's senior officer meetings, let you see what we have to put up with" I held up my hands in surrender.

"I've heard enough from all of you to want to avoid that at all costs" Brenda nodded, a sparkle in her eyes.

"Smart woman" She sat back and sobered a bit."I know your speciality was Special Victims, but we don't normally deal with those sort of cases unless there's something about them that makes it a Major Crime case. All things considered I'm sure you understand that I hope we don't need your expertise in that area anytime soon" I nodded, appreciating what was not being said. SVU had burned me out; too many years dealing with those cases had led me here, damned glad to be away from Special Victims.

"I'm in no hurry to get back to those sorts of cases either" I said, getting a nod in return.

"Some of the ones we deal with are bad enough anyway" I nodded slowly, from what I'd previously learned Major Crimes handled a lot of high profile crimes, with a lot of them murders so they saw their fair share of the horrible cases. Brenda pressed on. "We'll be having a team meeting shortly, catching you up on the cases, I'm sure you'll get up to speed quickly" I nodded.

"What are the big ones?" She sat back,

"We have several open but the big one is a joint investigation with Robbery Homicide" At my obvious interest she explained. "It started out as Sharon's case, but when it became obvious that there was some kind of black magic ritual killing thing happening, and the bodies started stacking up, Pope was all for yanking the case out from Robbery Homicide and giving it to Major Crimes: Brenda shook her head once then continued. "Sharon and I argued that taking it from Robbery Homicide would show a lack of confidence in what is a completely new team up there" At my frown she explained.

"That was the team that the cops working for the Cartel were with. With six of them arrested the rest of the division was under a cloud so the remaining personnel were scattered far and wide around the department and a new team was put together with Sharon in charge" I nodded, knowing what a reorg like that would do for a team's reputation, something I pointed out.

"Pulling the case from them suggests he doesn't trust them" Brenda smiled and nodded once.

"Exactly right, so Sharon and I ganged up on Pope and convinced him to let us run it as a joint case" she said, I nodded as she continued. "You'll get up to speed on that one pretty quick, it's messy and the media are going to be all over it when it breaks, despite Natalie's best efforts" I nodded at that.

"Serial killers sell papers, or so they say" She grinned sardonically.

"Cynical, but true"


	20. Chapter 20

As always, the characters here are the creation of their respective rights holders and the wonderful actors and actresses who bring them to life for us. Thanks for letting us play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **20 Alex's Day**

Alex's viewpoint

I was used to catching the subway to work, or slipping my heels into my bag and pulling on the trainers and walking if I needed to clear my head before a case. This wasn't New York though and our temporary place at Eastern Malibu was 30 miles out from my new job so I got to spend the morning navigating through heavy rush-hour traffic down to the nearest car park to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, located in a bright and shiny twin-tower building on North Figueroa Street, about six blocks from the LAPDs Headquarters in downtown LA where I'd dropped Liv off. Fortunately my rental car's satnav got me there in plenty of time. I thought about grabbing a coffee but I'd already had one before I left and I'd probably have another soon enough so I decided to hold off for the moment.

The Audi we'd rented was okay but if we were going to be here for any length of time then we'd need to look at getting cars of our own, Los Angeles wasn't cut out for the sort of public transport we'd been used to in Manhatten, so definitely one for me and another for Liv, though that would be dependent on if Liv got a work vehicle of her own.

I suppose I could have had my old Audi shipped across from New York but to be honest it was six years old and I'd been debating replacing it, as Nat had pointed out if I was looking at a car out here, it really should be a convertible, if only because of the weather. She, Maura and Sharon all drove them, in their cases a cute old red MGB, a newish silver Mercedes SLK and a black 3 series Beemer.

After being collected by a secretary I was escorted up to the executive floor where I was greeted by my new boss; Graham Annesley was the District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles, he spoke all the right words about how he was happy to have me join his team, that New York's loss was his gain and so forth, all nice to hear but I detected a reserve there, as if he was waititing to see if I was worth his time. I'd mentally shrugged to myself, I suppose I couldn't blame him, I'd been dropped onto him with no notice or real choice so I'd probably be the same in his position.

After Annesley I was taken down to HR where I filled in a seemingly endless succession of paperwork, everything from next of kin details to 401K forms and everything in between. I next stood in front of a camera for an I.D. photo which was placed on a swipe card, giving me access to most of the building. That done a HR person accompanied me up a floor to where the lawyers lived and I was shown to my new office; as the most recent arrival I got an inside office without a view, just the furniture and the bookshelf filled with the usual California and Federal criminal law volumes, pretty much part of the furniture as well. It was devoid of any personal touches, not that I was concerned too much about that, it actually had a lot more space than my old office back in 1PP.

Leaving my bag on the desk I was taken round and introduced to the rest of the lawyers, getting polite welcomes before being dropped off at Andrea Hobbs' office. Andrea turned out to be a mid-40s blonde with an easy smile and a lot of laugh lines around the eyes. She took one look at me, smiled and declared it was time for a coffee and led me downstairs to the cafe on the ground floor of the other tower building, apparently they did the best coffee in the vicinity, so much better than the ones in our building. We chatted about the weather, traffic, parking and other inconseqential stuff until we got our coffee's then made our way back to her office.

Andrea's office was nice, she'd decorated it with a range of pieces that evoked the seaside, a few beach prints in blues and yellows, a two-seater in pale wood with the cushions in a nautical themed fabric, a couple of shells on a bookshelf, vivid against the muted colours of the law books behind them and two photos, one a candid black and white shot of a beautiful dark-haired woman lounging asleep on her stomach on a beach towel, head resting on her arms and droplets of water glistening on her skin. The other showing Andrea and the same woman standing together in cocktail dresses, arms around each other wearing happy smiles. Andrea caught me eying them as she smiled, waving me back into the seat across the desk from hers.

"Mikki, she's a LAPD detective, she was with SIS but is now in Brenda's Major Crimes squad" She shrugged lightly. "A few people here gave me a bit of a hard time about it, the whole sleeping with the enemy thing" She sat back comfortably. "They weren't serious though, and now you're here, well..." I smiled and nodded.

"Safety in numbers" I got a happy smile as she spoke.

"Exactly" We sat back and sipped our coffee before she pressed on. "Speaking of our relations with the cops, things are a trifle tense at the moment between the LAPD and ourselves" I frowned, none of the others had said anything of the sort, what did she mean?

"Oh?" Andrea smiled and outlined the issue.

"Yes, all thanks to the Mayor's office" I raised an eyebrow and sat back as Andrea nodded slowly. "Politicians, the bane of our existance" I smiled in sympathy, I knew exactly what she meant there as she pushed on. "Basically they're concerned over there that major cases are costing the city too much money, especially some of the complex cases" I nodded in understanding; a big case could cost a million or more, especially if it dragged on. "They want the LAPD to be more open to more plea bargains, trading a guilty plea for a reduced sentence" I frowned; I could easily understand how that would go down with the cops; seeing it Andrea nodded ruefully. "As you can imagine, it's not gone down at all well up at the Parker Centre" she said, grimacing. "The couch at our place has seen some use as a bed in recent weeks" I nodded slowly then spoke.

"It's not your fault though" I pointed out, drawing a snort from Andrea.

"At times there are downsides to being involved with a passionate, hot-headed cop" At her words I smiled and decided to gently tease her a bit.

"On the other hand there is the post-fight making up" I got a quick, lop-sided grin.

"Sounds like a bit of personal experience there Ms. Cabot" I smiled a little wider as I replied.

"Definitely, Liv does tend to be a bit passionate about her job and sending the scum we dealt with back in New York to jail means a lot to her as well" Andrea nodded in agreement then went on.

"I can completely understand that, I didn't study criminal law to plea bargain, but orders are orders we just have to make the most of it" She suddenly turned a mischievous grin on me. "There are positives though, I get to spend more time over at the Parker Centre, especially with Major Crimes" I nodded slowly.

"Strictly professionally of course" I got a quick wink in return as she spoke.

"Of course" I decided right then I liked Andrea, she was unpretentious and straight forward, meanwhile she had continued on. "Obviously the biggest case of all right now is of course the one with those cops acting as assassins for a Mexican cartel. Most people here and over at the Parker Centre are calling it the Witsec Case" I nodded and leaned forward.

"I've heard some of it, obviously not all but enough. A plea bargain's not on the table for that one, is it?" Andrea shook her head abruptly.

"God no, not with all the charges they have on the table, plus I think Pope is terrified of what Brenda and Sharon would do to him if he was stupid enough to dare suggest it, with good reason too I might add. No, it's going to trial" I nodded, thinking it over then spoke, the case dealt with my friends after all.

"What's the evidence like?" Andrea shrugged.

"A jury's going to see and hear the evidence and convict in a heartbeat" she said, making me tilt my head to regard her, hearing the tone in her voice then prompted.

"There's a but..." In my experience there's always a 'but' with something so open and shut, Andrea didn't disappoint.

"There's always a but..." Andrea said then smiled and sat back, resting her elbows on the arms of her chair and regarding me over her steepled fingertips. "It's going to get messy. The defence has nothing much to use so they're likely to rake up the muck and throw as much mud as they can to try and discredit our witnesses" I frowned as she continued. "Naturally we'll try to keep a lid on it but the defence has form" I considered that for a moment then asked the expected.

"What can you tell me about the defence team?" She shrugged.

"Five of the six are being defended by a sleaze named Conrad Petersen, while the sixth, Julia Humphries, is being defended by the public defender's office" I wrinkled my brow at that, odd… Andrea nodded once and kept going. ""Petersen's got a rep for defending celebrities from paternity suits, divorces and the like, mostly by smearing the women involved" Andrea's face told me what she thought of that as I nodded once, I knew the type all too well, unfortunately. "He does occasional criminal cases, usually high profile ones to help keep his name in the papers, and they don't come more high profile than this one" She shrugged. "It's likely to get ugly" I frowned.

"Will the judge sit still for that?" I asked, seeing Andrea grimace as she replied.

"We had a bit of bad luck with the Judge, we got Walter Craven, politically, socially and legally an arch conservative to his fingertips, he's the epitome of the socially reactionary, pro-establishment late-middle aged WASP male judge" She smiled a little crookedly, her voice full of cynicism. "Not exactly a card carrying member of PFLAG" I frowned worriedly.

"Does he have any form?" I asked. Andrea pulled a face then replied.

"More his reputation and a few comments passed on from others. The issue of course is that all six of our key witnesses are lesbians, as are both prosecutors. He's not going to like that, at all" I frowned darkly, an attitude like that in this day and age…

"Damn it Andrea, it's supposed to be the 21st century, not the dark ages" She waved her hand at me.

"Preaching to the converted here girl" she said. I suddenly frowned, replaying what she'd said, ' _both prosecutors_ '... I looked her in the eye and spoke up.

"Hang on; you want me to be second chair?" Andrea nodded.

"If you'll take it" she said. "You have more than enough experience and seniority to be first chair but you've only just arrived..." I nodded.

"I understand, so you're first chair?" She smiled.

"If nothing else it'll be a good case to get your feet wet with. Plus it's personal" I shared a long look with her, then nodded.

"Yeah, it surely is"

 **New York**

The well-appointed office of the Commissioner of the NYPD was Paul Thomas' ultimate goal; from here he could wield the role's power the way it was supposed to, to make the changes needed to ensure that the right people ended up molding society to conform to the way they wanted.

Unfortunately the man in it right now was totally unsuitable; he was the son of a working-class officer and had been a beat cop and a detective in his turn; his sensibilities were with the working cops, not the powerful, connected people who had the right vision for the city. No, Reagan needed to go and he, Thomas, was the man to replace him.

Unfortunately, due to one of his major supporter's personal habits becoming public, that goal had receded at least another term away into the future, something he found intolerable, he found it hard staying polite with this lower-class clod, to have to do it for another three year term…

That brought him to another sore point; the woman he held responsible for that situation, Benson, had somehow escaped retribution and the man across from him was partly responsible for that. He was damned if she was going to escape his wrath, still, for the moment he had to deal with the man in the chair opposite so it paid to be polite, for now

"I understand that you recently signed off on a secondment to LA?" he proffered, seeing Reagan pause in reflection and then nod as he replied.

"Yeah, I remember now, it came well supported and LA was happy to have her" He paused in thought then continued. "As I recall that case she was on was a bad one, a break away from here will give her a chance to put that case behind her and come back to New York in a better frame of mind" Reagan smiled. "She might even learn something useful out there" he joked. Thomas shook his head once.

"She skipped out on her mandatory psyche eval; she shouldn't be working, let alone representing the NYPD to another force" At his words Reagan sipped the remains of his rapidly cooling coffee then spoke up.

"The secondment had a lot of support from the Mayor's office, amongst others Paul" Thomas ignored the subtle warning and pressed harder.

"It's still not right, the woman almost certainly leaked the case's details, it made the NYPD look bad" Reagan regarded him for a moment before responding.

"Possibly, but we have no proof of that do we?" Thomas frowned, he didn't need proof; he KNEW Benson needed to pay for her interference and this fool had made that quite a bit harder.

"Not yet, but we will" Hearing his words Reagan looked at him for a long beat, then shook his head as Thomas wondered if the man had picked up anything in his tone.

"Well let's see what the reports from LA say at the end of her secondment. That will inform our decision then" Reagan changed the subject, obviously bringing that topic to a close. "Now then, let's talk about budgets.


	21. Chapter 21

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **21 Qualifying**

Olivia's viewpoint

Ranges everywhere smell the same. The LAPD's headquarters range, located in the building's soundproofed sub-basement below the morgue, was a bit larger and more modern than its NYPD counterpart, but it still felt and smelled just like it.

"Sergeant…Benson is it?" The range controller was the LAPD armorer, a Lieutenant Barry O'Farrell; his voice, loud and sharp after decades of instructing shooters over the sounds of the range, suited him. He was a big, barrel-chested Irishman, mid-50s and just starting to go to seed, hair gone grey but with a still impressive physique.

"That's me" O'Farrell looked me over speculatively, something I'd had to get used to throughout my career, not that I liked it. He nodded and walked forward, holding out his hand.

"Barry O'Farrell, I'm the armourer, I'll be handling your evaluation today" I nodded as Jane leaned back against the wall and watched.

"Olivia Benson, NYPD" He smiled as we shook hands, firm but not overly so, I appreciated him not trying some macho hand-crushing bullshit, mind you few people tried that twice with me.

"Hey Rizzoli, are you here to ride shotgun on Benson?" Jane shook her head.

"Nah, she doesn't need me to handle you Barry, this just gets me away from the desk for a while" O'Farrell grinned and walked over to a desk, picking up a set of ear defenders and a set of clear goggles, tossing them one at a time at Jane who caught them easily.

"You're just here to get in some range time, so go shoot some paper and leave us in peace" Jane grinned and nodded.

"No argument from me" She looked over at me. "Don't take any notice of the shit that comes out of his mouth Liv, he's mostly harmless" O'Farrell grinned as he replied.

"Get out and don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way Rizzoli" Jane nodded and left, already settling the ear defenders over her head as O'Farrell turned to me. "So Sergeant, I understand you need to qualify out here" I nodded once and replied.

"Yeah, on secondment to Major Crimes" He smiled and nodded.

"The amazon squad, thought so when I saw you with Rizzoli, you'll fit right in" I gave him a hard look.

"Excuse me?" I said, not believing what I'd heard him say but O'Farrell was unmoved.

"Major Crimes, it's an in-house joke" At my questioning look he shrugged. "Since they had a reorganisation of Major Crimes and Robbery / Homicide, Major Crimes has ended up a hive of pretty women like Rizzoli out there, plus Chief Johnson's not exactly unattractive either" At my disbelieving stare he smiled. "Don't worry Sergeant; I've known Brenda Leigh Johnson since she got here from back east. She's got a really low threshold for tolerating fools, so everyone in that squad's damned good at their job or they wouldn't be there. Rizzoli's a good example; pretty, yeah sure, but she's also a damned good cop" He waved his hand in my direction. "If the Chief agreed to have you it's because she thinks you'll fit right in" He changed the subject abruptly. "So tell me, you use the NYPDs issue Glock 19 or something else?"

I shook off my annoyance with his manner, reminding myself to not be so touchy in a new job and nodded as he turned and walked into another room, motioning for me to follow him.

"Glock 19" I said, drawing a glance back over his shoulder and a question.

"What about your personal off-duty weapon?" I pursed my lips at his back as he led us through a storeroom to an impressively armoured door.

"I used to carry a Sauer P228, but eventually stopped when the Glock came in, I prefer the Glock and ended up carrying it pretty much exclusively" He nodded as he stopped and tapped a combination into an electronic cypher lock.

"Good call, the Glock's a nice piece of kit, it's what we settled on and for pretty much the same reasons as the NYPD" The door unlocked with a very noticeable click and he grunted with the effort of pulling it open, it turned out to be on a par with a bank vault door, heavy steel at least six inches thick set in even thicker walls. Inside was a gun lover's version of heaven, shelves and racks of weapons of all kinds. O'Farrell turned and grinned.

"Welcome to every LA gang bangers wet dream" He said with relish. "They lie awake at night and fantasise about being let loose in here. We have around three thousand weapons in here at any one time, everything from pretty much every major type of pistol on the market to long arms and shotguns" He looked back across his shoulder at me. "We could have probably fitted you up with any weapon you needed, right down to the SIG" We made our way down a row of floor to ceiling shelves before he stopped and reached out, pulling a box off one. "Fortunately a 19 is easy. Here you go, still with that new car smell" He handed me the familiar box, taking it I could feel the weight, a new service weapon, factory fresh; before I looked up and nodded. O'Farrell jerked his thumb back the way we'd came.

"Let's get all the paperwork fixed up, then we'll head out to the range and you can show Rizzoli how it's done" he said as I nodded.

Five minutes later the gun was mine. Instead of vast arrays of paperwork to fill out as I'd expected, everything was done with scanners, just like the one in a supermarket. My name was typed into the database, the computer automatically filling all the sections, leaving me to check everything was correct before signing two printouts.

Fitting the holster, I realised this one was new and stiff, it would take time to soften it up enough to get comfortable so I'd swap it for my old one tonight. I'd left my issue weapon back with the NYPD but kept the holster, buying a new one to hand back in with my weapon so I could keep my comfortable, worn in holster. O'Farrell pushed two boxes of ammunition across the table towards me.

"C'mon, let's go see you kill some paper" Several minutes later we found ourselves at the range, pulling the first target back in. I frowned at the results; the holes were more to the bottom right of the centre than I was used to.

"I think it's off, low and to the right" O'Farrell nodded and produced a set of armourers tools from a small case and took the weapon from me, wandering off and coming back with a pistol stand that he clamped to the bench. Over the next few minutes through trial and error and using a laser to aim it at the target's centre he refined the weapon and sights until I was satisfied that it was hitting where it was being aimed at. Releasing the pistol from the stand and handing it back to me he nodded and spoke briskly.

"OK Sergeant, now that's settled let's see you qualify" O'Farrell fitted a fresh silhouette paper target and sent it down range, where it stopped about 20 feet away and settled as he explained what he wanted. "OK, lower your weapon and relax, go on my mark and give it five rounds, until then relax" I nodded as I rolled my head, working some stiffness from my neck.

"FIRE!" At the shout my head automatically came up, the weapon in both hands coming up with it, coming to rest level with my eye as the first shell screamed downrange, followed by four more in quick succession. As the noise died away O'Farrell pushed the button to retrieve the target.

"Let's see. First shot was a fraction low, you shot as it came up to your eye" I could see the hole, slightly below the ten ring; the other four were all partly or completely in the ten ring. "The rest...not bad Benson, not too shabby at all" I nodded, contemplating the target, shooting a firearm was something I'd always worked hard to excel at from my first days in the force, it was something where I could compete directly with the men around me that didn't rely on brute strength, back before I'd got fit and strong.

Over the next ten minutes we shot in different lighting conditions, against moving targets, different-sized targets at various distances and targets where it turned face on for a few seconds and then swung side on again, in each case my accuracy was pretty much spot on, something I was happy about, I'd always shot high in the NYPD ratings, secretly it was something I was a little vain about, I knew I was damned good. Finally O'Farrell removed his ear defenders and motioned that I should do the same.

"Not bad at all Benson, keep it up and you might get to the top of the rankings. We have everyone on a ranking of course; your scores are more than good enough to qualify by the way" I nodded, hands mechanically reloading the Glock's magazine as he spoke, my mind turning over his words before replying.

"You said you ranked everyone, where am I?" It was my pride talking, I knew that, but then I'd always been competitive. O'Farrell smiled, he understood what was driving me; so many cops were exactly the same, before walking over to the nearest desk with a computer and calling up a ranking sheet on the screen.

"Top thirty women, top five hundred overall" I frowned as I walked his way; so low? As if he could read my mind O'Farrell shrugged. "You've got some stiff competition, especially the guys. None of the Tactical Response guys shoot less than International Marksman level, some of them could shoot for the Olympic team. Then there are the instructors, people like me who shoot all the time, we all live at the range. You're doing well for a detective, especially given the competition"

"Who're the best women?" I always did better when I had benchmarks to aim for, bad pun intended.

"Jessica Heaslip, she's one of the firearms instructors at the Academy, she wants to join Tactical Response as the team's first woman sniper when a position opens up. Then there's my assistant Mira Flores, she's just a whisker behind. Third is a young beat cop named Savannah Robinson, she's a freak, with a bit more experience and training she'll end up shooting pistols for a gold medal at the Olympics with any luck. Fourth is your friend Rizzoli here" He jerked his thumb over at where Jane was sitting on a desk a few yards away, checking her phone

"Hmm, so she's fourth eh?" I asked as O'Farrell nodded.

"She's real good, all of Major Crimes people are, Johnson insists they all shoot regularly down here" I thought about that for a moment then spoke.

"Really, where are they in the rankings?" He smiled and looked down again, tapping a few keys.

"Mendoza is eighty-ninth overall, Flynn is one ninety-seventh overall, Provenza used to be very good but he's slowing down these days, he's at eight hundred and eighty-one" O'Farrell held up his hand at my frown. "Hey, it is out of over ten thousand cops" I nodded, his point taken. "Chief Johnson is up in the mid one-hundreds overall"

"Why don't you give her the female only rankings Barry?" We looked up to see Jane had wandered over. O'Farrell grinned at her as he replied.

"Trying to give her an inferiority complex Rizzoli?" Jane shook her head and smiled.

"Nah, but she needs to know where she sits in the rankings" I nodded slightly in agreement, she was right; I'd always performed better when I had benchmarks and goals to chase. O'Farrell changed the screen and started reading out the rankings.

"OK, Heaslip first, Flores second, Robinson third, you fourth, Mendoza is twelfth, Chief Johnson is fifteenth, based on your efforts today Benson, you're twenty ninth" He ran his finger down the list. "Rizzoli's FBI friend Romanov shoots in the fifties" Jane just grinned at me and spoke up.

"That's with a pistol, tell her about the long arms list" O'Farrell shrugged, then called up a different set of rankings.

"Romanov is second to Heaslip with a rifle; just before Robbery / Homicide's Amy Sykes; no surprise there, both of them are ex-army vets and did all their training with long arms before doing it for real in the Middle East. Speaking of Robbery / Homicide, Commander Raydor is second after Flores with Jess third when it comes to a shotgun, but only sixty-sixth with a pistol"

I nodded slowly, thinking it over, I could already see myself spending some time here or another range. I'd been the only woman in SVU until Rollins arrived, shooting better than most of the squad. Rollin's arrival hadn't changed that, she wasn't that good a shot, not as good as me at least. Now though, I'd have to step it up.

It was bad enough to not even make the top ten, but to be outshot by three of my squad? Jane and Mendoza I could kinda handle, but the boss? I might have got a little rusty but no way. I looked up to see them both looking at me; both could obviously guess what I was thinking as O'Farrell nodded.

"Welcome down here anytime Benson" he said. I nodded in thanks while Jane just smirked.

"Bring it on Liv' she said. "I'm always up for a contest, but bring your money with you" I screwed my mouth up in frustration, drawing a chuckle from Jane. I was normally competitive but I was a bit rusty after the last month or so and Jane was both extremely competitive and obviously damned good, better than she'd ever let on actually by the sound of it. Equally obviously she spent a lot of time at the range keeping her skills honed. As I thought it through Jane turned to the armorer.

"Thanks Barry, I'll see you soon" He nodded, smiling at us both.

"Always a pleasure Rizzoli" He looked at me and winked. "See you down here real soon Benson" I nodded when I saw the smile, giving him one of my own; He understood what I was thinking and approved, something I was grateful for.

"Thanks Lieutenant, you will" Gathering up my weapon and gear we turned and headed for the exit as Jane bumped shoulders with me.

"Don't take it too hard Liv, not even you can be the best at everything" I gave her my best ' _don't bet on it_ ' look even as I smiled.

"We'll see Jane, we'll see"


	22. Chapter 22

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **22 The Third Sign**

Brenda's viewpoint

The calls came in the middle of a sadly familiar argument; Sharon was pressing me to move in together out at her place in Silver Hills. She had all sorts of good, logical reasons why we should; I'd agreed to it previously then got cold feet at the last moment, much to Sharon's dismay.

She'd tried to get the reasons out of me, but the truth was it was scary, I mean everything was perfect right now but deep down I was afraid that moving in together was something permanent and that was what was scaring me.

I didn't have the best track record with permanent; two failed marriages behind me plus an affair that had gone sour had made me gun shy. What if we moved in together and I did something that stuffed it up? I couldn't handle losing Sharon like that, losing her would kill me, she was too important to me to risk.

I'd tried to point out my reasoning only to run straight into a wall of logic, if there was one thing Sharon did supremely well, out of bed that is, it was logic. I'd teased her occasionally about being the LAPD's Vulcan in chief, only to be told she preferred Star Wars to Star Trek and that what I called logic she called common sense.

We'd started thrashing it out again but before it had got too far both our phones had gone off at the same time, we'd exchanged a look that told each other we knew exactly what had happened; sure 'nuff it was the black magic killer, again. Five minutes after the call we were dressed and on our way, sharing the drive, Sharon navigating as I drove, our earlier argument completely forgotten.

Arriving in South Los Angeles' Vermont-Slausen area the scene was already bustling with members of both teams on the ground, I could see Jane and Mikki and Lucy Kwang and Julio Sanchez talking near the entrance to an older walk-up apartment building, seeing them straighten up and turn as someone recognised my car. A minute later we were walking upstairs as they brought us both up to speed.

"Victim is a forty-seven year old female Ma'am's" It was Sanchez. "The body was discovered when a friend dropped by for a previously-arranged coffee, they could see a light on but no one answered the door. They knocked and called long enough that the super, who lives up the hall, heard and came down and, recognising the woman as an old friend of the vic, eventually opened up the door" He waved ahead of us at the knot of cops standing in the hall. "With the door open, well…" I nodded as the uniforms saw both of us coming and got out of the way, well mostly out of Sharon's, her rep was still there. Arriving in the doorway I looked in and saw the blood everywhere, the body visible across the small apartment in the combined kitchen and dining area. I caught Sharon's face tighten before I spoke up.

"Let's get to it then, shall we?" I pulled on gloves and booties and made my way in, trailed by the others. Maura was already there, obviously she had come in with Jane, Natalie was standing to one side, speaking quietly with Provenza with Ana leaning against the wall nearby; no doubt Ana had decided to drive her in as well. Vermont-Slausen was a neighbourhood with a poor reputation, not the best place for a stunning blonde woman to be driving through alone at night. Sharon turned to the small knot of detectives trailing after us and asked her first question.

"Who is our victim?" Out came the notepads, a universal cop constant, as Mikki led off.

"Our victim is Luisa Lopes, apparently she works in one of Amazon's sweatshops, pardon me; I meant 'fulfilment centres'…" She put it in quotes as I raised an eyebrow, looking for an explanation. "The vic's photo I.D. was in their purse so I'll follow up with her supervisor first thing in the morning" It wasn't the explanation I was after I guess but Sharon nodded and glanced my way so I shelved that thought and picked up the questioning.

"Did any of the neighbours hear or see anything?" Surprisingly Jane nodded.

"A resident on the ground floor is legally blind and has a guide dog, they say something disturbed the dog at around eight fifteen tonight, the dog started barking at someone walking past right about then" I was about to say something when Jane kept going. "The owner says the dog is usually cool with people passing by, something about this person set it off" Lucy Kwang spoke up.

"Figure the dog smelled the blood of the missing body parts maybe?" she offered. I nodded slowly as Sharon spoke, her voice reflective.

"Possible, though guide dogs are supposed trained to be calm at most things" She directed her next words to Kwang, her voice firming. "Please talk to the guide dog people at the first available opportunity and ask what would set off a guide dog like that" Kwang nodded as Jane jumped back in.

"Apart from that no one saw anything, as far as we've been able to tell, figure everyone was inside watching bad reality TV" Sanchez, seeing she'd finished, took up the story.

"We have a canvas of the area underway, Sykes is out handling that while Jefferies and Riggs are talking to the friend down the hall in the super's apartment" He gestured back out of the unit. "She was pretty shook up, she'd known the vic for over twenty years then found her cut open on the floor, didn't take it all that well" I grimaced at that.

"We'll have a chat to her later" I said as Sharon nodded at that and we looked round as something struck me, it seemed half my team were missing. "Where exactly are Lieutenant Flynn, Sergeant Benson and Detective Kahn?" Jane piped up.

"Flynn's at a meeting" Meaning an AA meeting I realised and nodded as she continued. "Benson's on her way, her place is a fair way up the coast and she's still getting used to the roads" I ducked my head once, I'd heard a bit about the place they were staying at and hoped to see it for myself soon enough.

"And Detective Kahn?" Mendoza handled that one, Kahn was now her partner after all.

"He was at a family get-together down in Pasadena tonight, he's inbound but like Benson it's a fair hike" I grimaced for a second then mentally shrugged. My people were allowed to have lives, no matter how occasionally inconveniencing their Friday evening activities might be.

"Evening Chief, Commander" Turning I saw it was Flynn with David Gabriel following in his wake. I nodded, seeing Sharon doing the same as each man spilt up and came to their boss, asking versions of the same question.

"Another one?"

"Looks like the same M.O.?" Moments later they were off, despatched to look into potential camera's covering the building and nearby car parks and to look for next of kin respectively.

For the next few minutes we watched as Maura and her team conducted their own inquiry, the lights from her team photographer a contrast with Buzz as he moved around, videoing the scene and the wider apartment as I watched them, trying to think of anything we'd missed.

"Lovely" I looked round to see Olivia Benson there, already crouching down next to the body and peering into the cavity. She shook her head once, exchanging a small smile and a nod with Maura and then stood, turning to face me.

"Sorry I'm late Chief, still getting used to the roads here" I nodded.

"I'm sure that will improve" It was a fine line, I had to balance being friends with being their boss. If they were noticeably late to the scene I had to say something, but I also understood how confusing LA could be to someone new and Liv had been here for only a few days. I got a definitive nod.

"It will" Nodding at her reply I turned to Maura who had risen and was standing there waiting to speak to me.

"Good evening Chief" I smiled, having Maura on the team was a treasure; one I'd always be grateful for given her skills were beyond exceptional.

"Good evening Doctor" I looked around, seeing Sharon talking to Detective's Mendoza and Kahn, obviously he had arrived but hadn't got round to talking to me yet. I caught Sharon's eye and she finished up as I turned back to Maura. "The Commander will join us shortly but from first appearances it looks like our killer's struck again?" She nodded.

"The wounds to the throat and the torso appear consistent with the previous victims. There may be specific differences but that will have to wait…" I interrupted her; I knew exactly what she was going to say.

"Until you get them back to the lab" I gave her a smile, just teasin' her and she knew it, not offended at all.

"Exactly" We smiled together for a moment before we were joined by Sharon; after pleasantries were exchanged Maura got down to it.

"The throat wound at first inspection was done with a very sharp blade, similar to the other victims. As with the others the assailant would appear to have attacked from behind and is most likely right-handed; the other victim's wounds showed signs of the blade being thrust in to the left side of the throat and pulled right, exiting from the skin with a slight tearing motion on the right side, opening up the jugular vein, the carotid arteries and the main airway" I grimaced, that would mean a quick, bloody and agonising death. It also explained the large spatter of blood across two walls and part of the ceiling, blood under pressure in the body's circulatory system tended to spray across surprisingly large distances when a main artery was opened up. Maura was continuing.

"Given the nature of the wounds and of the blood's pattern and distribution it is likely that the victim was attacked from behind" she said as we both nodded at that, understanding that she meant no interruptions to the spray residue that would have been there if there had been an assailant standing in the way when the blood sprayed out. "The wound to the torso is also consistent with the previous victims, the knife used in those incidents was a serrated-edged blade and initial examination of the victims suggests that a similar blade was used here" She gave a gentle tip of the head and finished up. "A complete autopsy will reveal more" I exchanged a glance with Sharon, seeing her nodding slowly before she asked the question.

"Which organs were removed this time Doctor?" Maura grimaced.

"The liver, the spleen and surprisingly, both kidneys" I frowned, seeing Sharon do the same.

"Why surprising?" At my question Maura turned and crouched down by the victim's body, indicating the mess that was the hole in her torso.

"The shortest and most effective way to access both kidneys is via the rear of the torso as that is the closest entry point, normally surgery on them such as transplants is conducted from the side or back as they are located at the rear of the torso" Maura produced a small torch and shone it down into the gaping cavity, completely unfazed by the mess in there as you'd expect. "As you quite clearly see, the assailant has cut straight through several other organs to access the kidneys, leaving the contents of the stomach and intestines flooding through the cavity, thoroughly compromising the other organs"

"Compromising how exactly?" At Sharon's words Maura looked up.

"The acids within the stomach are quite powerful, as they must be to break down a wide variety of foods for digestion; the stomach is lined to prevent this acid from damaging the organ, something the exterior of the other organs lack. When the assailant cut through the stomach the resultant spill of the stomach's acid into the cavity resulted in damage to all remaining organs" I nodded, wondering if it meant something, seeing Sharon's far away expression, she was trying to put it all together as well. Sharon recovered quickly though and nodded to Maura.

"Thank you Doctor Isles, I take it no time of death due to the damage to the organs?" Maura nodded and smiled, obviously grateful we got it.

"Exactly, I will need to undertake a more in-depth examination back at the morgue to determine a time of death" I nodded as I looked down at the body then looked up as a thought came to me.

"How long would it have taken to do everything, from the initial attack to walking out the door after finishing up?" Maura paused, her eyes dropping to the corpse and unfocusing as she mentally walked it through. She said nothing for approximately thirty seconds as Sharon, Liv and I exchanged glances. Finally she came back to us and spoke.

"I would normally expect that it would be less than forty five minutes, a surgeon for example would normally take at least that long, however in this case, given there was obviously no need for concern for the victim's post-incident recovery and the apparent haste with which the organ removal took place, I would expect on the order of twenty five to thirty minutes at most. I nodded, seeing the others nodding as well, that gave us a window to work within. Liv spoke up.

"Confident SOB, working away for up to half an hour on a person he's killed, risking detection right through" I pursed my lips, thinking it through as Sharon spoke.

"Confident yes, it is possible I suppose, or perhaps so focused on their task that he didn't care about the time" I nodded then chimed in.

"We don't know how much time passed between the murder and the friend arriving for coffee, potentially that could have interrupted their work here" At my words Maura nodded and spoke up.

"I shall undertake the autopsy this evening, to ascertain time of death as quickly as possible" I thought about it then shook my head.

"No that's fine Doctor, first thing in the morning would be fine if you would be so kind" Sharon nodded.

"The exact time of death isn't critical right now" I said. "We have the dog barking at eight fifteen and we need to ascertain when the friend arrived" Maura looked a little uncertain but nodded at my smile.

"Very well" she said. "With your agreement I will undertake the autopsy tomorrow morning" She glanced down at the body then looked up, taking in Sharon and I. "With your permission I would like to have the victim removed and transported down to the morgue" I looked to Sharon who nodded and replied.

"Thank you Doctor, the victim is all yours" Maura nodded.

"Then if you will excuse me, I will see to my team" She turned away as I smiled at Sharon then turned to Olivia.

"Sergeant Benson, could you please work with Detective Kahn to conduct a database search for any previous similar crimes, or any similar attacks featuring a very sharp knife used to slit throats wielded by a right handed assailant" I said as Olivia nodded, the notebook had come out and she was making notes as I continued. "Also talk to Doctor Isles and confirm it was a similar scalpel–like blade to the other attacks" I paused then pushed on. "Add that to the database search if you would be so kind" I got a nod and a look up, the ' _any more_ ' question obvious. I turned my head to look at Sharon who nodded.

"While you are working with Detective Kahn, get him to check the ownership of the properties all the victims lived in, someone found each them and got inside without breaking in, perhaps there is a connection we've missed" Olivia nodded and I finished up.

"That will be all, go talk to Kahn and bring him up to speed, then send him our way" I said, getting a nod and a 'will do'. Sanchez was next, the canvas hadn't turned up much, pretty much as expected. In a piece of good thinking he'd called for the dog squad, if something had set off the guide dog downstairs maybe they could find something to track. Sharon had congratulated him on the idea and he went off to coordinate the search as I saw Ana walk over, wearing jeans and the disposable booties over her runners, a white polo and a blue windcheater with FBI emblazoned across the back.

"Evening Chief, Commander" I nodded.

"Special Agent" She smiled a little at the formality, we all did, but it was how we made it all work.

"I overheard your question about timings, so I checked" she stated. "The vic's friend arrived around eight forty, so if the dog barking was our unsub leaving the scene there was only twenty five minutes in it" I nodded, both at the Bureau-speak and the timing. That wasn't a lot of leeway when the assailant was looking at maybe twenty five minutes work to remove the organs. That put the attack's time at sometime between seven thirty and eight though we'd know more once Maura had conducted her autopsy. Sharon looked at me and then back to Ana.

"Could I ask you to talk to Sergeant Benson and conduct a search of the Bureau's databases for similar attacks, perhaps the assailant has undertaken similar attacks elsewhere?" Ana nodded and then glanced between us both before she replied.

"Will do. If there's nothing else I'll go chase her up" I nodded, seeing Sharon shake her head and with a casual salute Ana was gone, walking over to Liv who was talking to Kahn off in one corner.

"It's a long shot I know but we have to check:" Sharon said, drawing a nod from me.

"True, and we might yet get lucky" That got me a small smile.

"I was sure hoping so" I exchanged a sly smile with her before I turned to see Maura's team placing the victim in a body bag, something that killed the smile right quick. This poor woman had been killed in her own kitchen while waiting for her friend, someplace supposedly safe and domestic turned into a place of death. I grimaced to myself as I thought it through, puzzling over the info we had and wondering what we might have missed. I was drawn from my thoughts by a polite voice behind me.

"Good evening Chief Johnson, I am sorry I was late" I turned to see Kahn standing there, looking a little embarrassed.

"Detective, I understood you were down at Pasadena?" He bobbed his head once.

"Yes, at a family function with some distant cousins" I tipped my head to regard him.

"Sorry to drag you away…" He shook his head emphatically.

"On the contrary Chief Johnson, it appears that my cousins have embraced America to the point that they have forgotten how to cook authentic food from North India" He pulled a face. "I was not unhappy to be called away suddenly" I tried hard not to smile.

"That bad?" I asked, getting a somewhat rueful expression from him as he replied.

"The traditional dishes they served up were worse than my local, supposedly North Indian take-out, and that, Chief Johnson, is run by a Sri Lankan family" It was an effort to keep an straight face at the hint of scandal in his voice, instead playing it deadpan.

"Outrageous" I waved at the computer over by one wall of the living room. "The victim's computer is on but apparently needs a password" We'd already checked that. "Could you get it open and check her emails for threats and such" He nodded quickly.

"Absolutely, right away" With another, respectful nod he turned and made his way over to the computer as I let a small smile out, already knowing that the computer's secrets would soon be laid bare, Khan had already demonstrated he was very good at that sort of thing.

"Outrageous, you really said that?" I turned at Sharon's soft voice and teasing tone to see her working to suppress a smile, keeping my voice down as I replied.

"It was a Sri Lankan family, running an Indian restaurant"

"Nothing wrong with Sri Lankan cuisine" I nodded, we'd had dinner at a nice Sri Lankan place a few months back.

"I suppose it's the principle of the thing that bothers him" She shook her head and gave me a 'hmm' before she moved off to talk to Lieutenant Jefferies as I turned away from watching Khan work, turning to see Benson standing in the kitchen, a puzzled expression on her face as she seemed to be sniffing the air. As I watched, wondering what on earth she could smell when my nostrils were full of the metallic scent of blood, she carefully moved around the kitchen, avoiding the worst of the blood pools to approach the bench. Keeping her hands away from the surface she sniffed back and forward before approaching an electric kettle, examining it from all sides as I approached her, watching as she reached out and carefully opened the lid, peering in as her nose twitched.

"Looking for a coffee Sergeant?" I teased, getting a slight smile as she turned at my voice.

"Nope, thanks to Ana and Alex I've been trained to see instant coffee as a thing of last resort" She waved at the kettle. "This one's boiled dry and the elements overheated, that's what I could smell" She looked back at me and continued. "It's an older model, old enough the safety switch didn't cut in when it boiled dry and the element cooked itself" I nodded as I wondered what it meant. I raised an eyebrow at Olivia.

"And…" I prompted; getting a shrug as she glanced my way then cautiously advanced a supposition.

"The vic put the kettle on, got surprised and attacked by her assailant and once they'd killed her were too busy cutting her open to notice and didn't turn it off maybe" I nodded once, it was plausible, but so were many others.

"It's possible I suppose, or she knew her attacker and put on the kettle, distracting her enough for our killer to strike" It was her turn to pull a face.

"Could be" She moved to look at the kettle's side facing the wall and away from the victim. "There's no blood trace on the far side, so it doesn't look like it's been moved since the murder" Before I could say something more I was interrupted by Natalie's voice.

"Sorry to interrupt but I've got some bad news for you" I turned to find Natalie standing there, a sad smile on her face with Sharon standing next to her; I sighed, I could all too well imagine what she was about to tell me.

"Don't keep us in suspense Ms Dearing" Nat grimly smiled as she held up her phone as she explained.

The media's got hold of the story, they've obviously got the details wrong but what they've got is bad enough" She turned her phone round and I read the headline there out loud.

"LA's Cannibal Killer At Large" I rolled my eyes as Sharon shook her head while Natalie turned her phone back around and gave us the highlights as she re-read it.

"They have the exact details wrong, as you'd expect with that headline, but they know we have multiple victims and that the bodies were mutilated, supposedly by this 'cannibal killer'. She read on a bit. "They know of the two previous attacks in Florence and Vermont Knolls, plus they're talking about a new attack here in Vermont-Slausen so there's a leak somewhere" I pulled a face as I realised she was correct, a good number of cops passed tips to the media, some for cash, others for kicks, either way it made our job even harder.

"Pope is going to love this" Sharon said as I nodded and spoke up,

"He'll have kittens, but then that's nothing new for the man" Natalie gave us a sardonic smile as she piped up.

"Sadly no, it isn't" She grimaced. "I'll probably have media downstairs soon, if they're not here already" She glanced between Sharon and I and continued. "I'll give them the usual holding statement lines but you can bet that they'll be onto this like sharks scenting blood in the water" She glanced at the drying pools of blood and pulled a face. "Sorry, bad choice of words" I nodded, it was surprising how many such metaphors could sound wrong at crime scenes.

"If you could be kind enough to at least dissuade the media from further speculation about a cannibal killer we'd be grateful" At my words Sharon nodded and chimed in.

"The last thing we need is a potential copycat killer jumping on the bandwagon" Sharon said as she glanced down at the victim. "This one is bad enough without adding someone deciding to emulate some mythical cannibal"

The three of us exchanged a long-suffering glance, god knows there were a lot of crazies out there and the media's inaccurate reporting might just tip one of them over the edge into doing something stupid.

"I'll do my best, god knows we don't need that on top of this" She waved towards the victim. Sharon nodded as she replied.

"One psychopath at a time please" Her comment made me smile without humour.

"This is LA, we couldn't be that lucky could we?" I said.

We shared a look and a shake of the head as we all knew the answer from experience.

' _No_ , _we couldn't_ '


	23. Chapter 23

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **25 Pre-Trial**

Alex's viewpoint

We were sitting in Andrea's office going over the trial while we waited on the defence team to arrive for a meeting. Well, drinking coffee and gossiping actually; the meeting was just the excuse; the subject had somehow moved from evidence and witnesses to the foibles of judges, particularly dealing with the prejudices so many of them had, especially regarding women. Andrea was passing on some gossip about Craven, the judge who'd be presiding over the Witsec case.

"Susanne Johnson, she was one of our DA's before she went off on maternity leave; she got pulled up the first time she appeared in his court because she was wearing a pants suit" My face must have reflected how appalled I was at that as Andrea nodded and held up her hands in a 'don't shoot' gesture. "I know, I know, but she got word via the bailiff that the judge didn't like women dressing like men" I couldn't help myself.

"You're fucking joking right?" Realising what I'd blurted out I hastily apologised. "Language, sorry, but…really?" I shook my head at Liv's influence again as Andrea nodded.

"A fucking joke is what it is" It was her way of saying she was okay with my swearing, drawing a grateful smile from me as she pulled a face and continued. "Unfortunately we have to pander to his stupid prejudices, so it's skirts and heels for the duration" I didn't have a problem with that, I had a nice collection of skirt suits and blouses after all but it was the principle of the thing.

"God save us from sexist old farts" I stated, as we shared a somewhat rueful smile before Andrea pointed out an issue.

"We're going to have to make sure all of our witnesses are aware of the rule and why it's there" I nodded at once, seeing what she meant.

"It can't hurt I suppose" I said as Andrea nodded.

"All of our key witnesses are beautiful women and the natural tendency of most men is to be attracted to such women, to want to protect them" she said. "While women will tend to empathise more with them than our mostly male conspirators" she observed. "Having them dress more 'femininely' will help" She put the word in air quotes and accented it as I grimaced. I sure as hell didn't want to be the one to explain that particular line of reasoning to Ana and particularly Jane, ' _no way in hell_ '. By the look on Andrea's face she was obviously thinking the same, as her next words confirmed.

"Yeah, we'd better get Nat and Maura on the case with Ana and Jane, otherwise they'll more than likely wear their usual pants suits" I pulled a face as I replied.

"Better them than me making that argument" Andrea grinned.

"Especially Jane" she said, making me chuckle softly, seeing her enquiring expression then explained

"I know Jane has a nice court suit, Maura helped her pick it out and she looks good in it" At Andrea's interested look I explained. "She was having trouble convincing her so she sent me text with a shot of her in the suit" I shrugged. "As you'd expect with her figure she looked great, so I texted back that it had my seal of approval and Maura made sure Jane got it" Andrea nodded once then replied.

"Well we need her to get it ready for an appearance; she's going to be wearing it in Craven's court" We were interrupted by a phone call from reception, our visitors were here.

This meeting would be an interesting break in the preparations for the trial, well preparations for the slaughter to be honest; the evidence was going to send them to death row, probably with complaints from the jury that we weren't allowed to execute them right then and there. When you got into the full story of what they'd done at least four of the seven accused deserved to be taken out and shot in the back of the head without remorse. They'd killed men and women, dozens of them, kidnapped victims and handed them over to the cartel for torture and a drawn out, agonising death, they'd betrayed their oaths and turned on their fellow cops, if I had anything to do with it I'd see they'd all die of old age in prison, just the way they were supposed to.

Now though the defence team had requested a meeting; apparently now they'd gone through the discovery process and got an idea of our evidence they'd realised how little actual chance they had of heading off the verdict. Given the weight of evidence against them I sure wouldn't want to be trying to defend them, it practically defined the term hopeless.

Andrea and I met them in the DA's conference room as three people trooped in to meet us, led by the senior member of the defence team, Conrad Peterson; tall, overly tanned, blonde hair and blue eyes, he was trying to exude confidence, aiming for impressive and achieving arrogant. He swept in trailed by a younger black man in a nice suit and a slim Asian woman with a severe hairstyle and an even more severely tight black pants suit who he introduced as his associates Callum Cox and Jacinta Ling. We settled down, offered them water which was politely declined and then sat back and kicked us off by asking what was the purpose of the meeting. Peterson didn't beat around the bush.

"We're looking for a deal, to trade down the sentence" I kept my face impassive as I realised he knew he'd got nothing to fight with and wanted to a plea bargain. Andrea was equally impassive, not moving as she spoke, seemingly disinterested.

"Go on" Peterson smiled, revealing an expanse of gleaming white teeth, startlingly bright against his mahogany-coloured perma-tanned skin as he spoke.

"In return for certain conditions being met my clients will enter no contest, basically we can skip the trial" It was my turn and I kept my voice disinterested. "And these conditions are…?" Peterson looked between us and explained what he wanted.

"A reduction to 10 to 15 years, no guaranteed life and no death penalty" He smiled again, all sincerity. "It's not much to ask, you get a guilty verdict and we avoid the drawn out expense of a trial"

I shared a look with Andrea then looked back at him then as one we shook our heads; our responses practically synchronised.

"No deal"

"No way" Peterson was unfazed; he'd obviously expected that we'd say no, it was after all only his opening gambit.

"Really, the department and the city are looking for plea bargains and here I am offering you one" I frowned at his words but it was Andrea who spoke.

"You are mistaken Mister Peterson, the city is looking for plea bargains in specific cases, and I can assure you they are certainly not looking for one here" I nodded and backed her up.

"They most definitely do not extend to corrupt cops who just happen to be mass murderers" Ling stepped into the conversation.

"Alleged mass murderers" I let my eyebrow rise as I looked at her and replied, keeping my voice as dry as I could.

"You now know the evidence against them; my initial statement stands" Ling looked like she wanted to argue the toss; which was fine by me but Peterson inserted himself back into the conversation, all charm and smiles.

"My clients have useful information that they will provide to the court, in return for which we would ask that their previously stated conditions are agreed to" Andrea handled that one, her voice dry as dust.

"You seem to believe that the information they have is of interest to the court" She smiled. "I rather feel that the court will find the evidence that they killed dozens of people of significantly more interest" Peterson wasn't fazed, leaning forward and gesturing with his hands.

"Let's come to a reasonable accommodation here, in return for the plea, my clients will provide all the information they have gleaned on the actions of not just the Sinaloa cartel but their competitors here in Los Angeles" Andrea flicked me a glance and barely nodded so I spoke up.

"Mister Peterson, as you are now no doubt all too aware, the cartel's liaison to your clients has agreed to provide specific evidence against your clients as part of the information he is providing to law enforcement agencies" I shrugged. "Basically with that we don't need whatever information your clients have asked you to broker for a reduced sentence" Peterson sat there, seemingly unfazed.

"You are turning your backs on valuable information about the Sinaloa cartel, given that, and the fact that they can save the city a lot of money and you a long and convoluted trial, you should take the deal" I turned to Andrea and made an 'after you' gesture, getting a smile before Andrea turned back to address Peterson.

"Mr Peterson, in addition being responsible for the murders of almost three dozen people, your clients conspired to have half a dozen law-enforcement personnel killed, several times over in fact, so this isn't about a deal" Peterson tipped his head to regard her, obviously puzzled and trying to not let it show. Picking it up Ling asked the question for her boss.

"Then what is it about?" Andrea turned and made the same 'after you' gesture I _'_ d just made to her as I picked up the conversation again.

"This is about sending a message to every cop out there who even contemplates betraying his badge, his oath and his colleagues" Ling shook her head as she replied.

"You really think you have enough to convict them on all charges?" she said; Andrea smiled and shook her head as I smiled to myself.

"No Ms Ling, I don't think we can convict them, I know we can" Andrea stated matter-of-factly as I looked to her then back at Peterson and spoke.

"Tell your clients that we are seeking the death penalty for each of them, so they should start making their peace with god now" I stated, drawing narrowed eyes from Ling, a scowl from Cox and frown from Peterson.

"If you're so damned determined to get them killed, why'd you bother wasting my time with this meeting?" Peterson said, obviously a little exasperated that we weren't interested in his 'deal'.

"Firstly, you asked for the meeting, not us. Secondly we're sending a message to you Mr Peterson" Andrea stated, getting an almost sneer from Peterson as he replied.

"And what might that be?" I stared at him, making my voice as cold as I could.

"The people targeted were our friends, so this isn't just a job, this isn't just another case; this is personal" Andrea smiled and nodded at my words before speaking.

"You might as well go and tell your clients to change their plea to guilty, the judge might be lenient" Peterson sneered at her across the table.

"Like that's going to happen" Andrea shrugged.

"Your call, don't say we didn't try and save you the embarrassment of a loss" Peterson's second chair, Callum Cox, who had been quiet up to now leaned forward and spoke.

"Let's see what happens shall we, especially when we start digging into the backgrounds of your senior officers here. I understand their turgid little romance might make interesting listening for the jury, y'know, cast some doubt on the moral rectitude of your two star witnesses" I felt the burn of anger sweep through me at his threat, Andrea's jaw tightened, her voice cold and sharp as she glared at Cox, before turning to Peterson.

"Mr Peterson, if you plan to seriously go down that path, I would advise you to reconsider your tactics, in the strongest possible terms" Cox shrugged, obviously unaffected.

"You're trying to have our clients sent to death row, no deals, no plea bargain; you can't blame us when we explore every possible avenue in their defence" Andrea leaned forward, her hands pressed flat against the table as she spoke.

"Little boy, don't even consider trying that with me, I was winning capital cases when you were still ambulance chasing straight out of college. If you go down that path I'll take great pleasure in cutting you to pieces" I was angry too and didn't bother trying to hide it in my voice.

"You'll have to excuse me Mr Peterson, I'm from New York and we're a little more blunt back there. Don't fuck with us counsellor, no cute games and no attempts to drag sexuality into this case; otherwise we'll bury you and the rest of your sophomore-team…" My eyes flicked contemptuously to Cox for a moment, then back. "… so deep they'll have to drill down to the Cretaceous to find you" I smiled as coldly as I could. "Are we clear?" Cox spoke up, interjecting himself back into the conversation.

"Alex Cabot, New York's famed dyke-strict attorney; well you're not in New York and your so-called reputation means nothing here" I turned my head to take in the man lounging in his chair across the table from me.

"Little boy..." I chose to use the same insult Andrea had. "...if homophobic word plays are the best you can do, I quite honestly cannot WAIT to see you make a monumental fool of yourself in court" I let a condescending tone into my voice as I smirked at him, I'd worked out the roles each of these would play. Peterson was the heavy hitter, he'd handle the opening and be the grandstander, handling the big moments. Ling was probably the one handling the grind of statements and cross examination while Cox was the attack dog, he'd be the one who'd go after the witnesses and expert testimony. Not that I was concerned, I'd beaten the best defence teams in New York on a lot less evidence than we had here. The thought made me smile a little wider as I looked across at Peterson and spoke.

"Basically, bring it on" At that jab Peterson stood.

"We're done here" he said, his voice clipped with anger. Andrea tipped her head to regard him and smiled politely.

"Oh yes we are"

"I'll see you in court" Peterson snapped. I exchanged a glance with Andrea before speaking.

"Yes you will and Mr Peterson…" I smiled. "...we're looking forward to it"

 **New York**

It was late in the day and Ed Tucker was about ready to call it a day when his cell rang.

"Tucker"

" _It's Thomas, Reagan may have signed off on her transfer but I want Benson back here as soon as possible_ " I sighed silently, then asked.

"Do we have a reason to drag her back?"

" _You're going to find one_ " I screwed my face up; ' _how exactly?_ ' I thought, not daring to say that aloud I temporised instead.

"In what way? With her on secondment we don't have jurisdiction on her, not unless we can prove she did something illegal here in New York" Naturally that didn't cut any ice with Thomas.

" _Then that's your job, your only job until I say so, find some leverage to dig her out of LA and drag her back to New York, in cuffs preferably_ " I grimaced, talk about tall orders.

"It'll have to be something good, at the moment she's the LAPD's responsibility, not ours"

" _Like hell she is, find something we can use for leverage then get your ass out to California, , a warrant will drag her back here soon enough once you have something to use_ " Thomas wasn't going to like what I said next either but facts were facts.

"NYPD has no authority to go after Benson, at least not while she's with the LAPD" He didn't like it.

" _I don't fucking care, she's still NYPD, at least till I fix that, so you still have authority over her as IA so get moving Tucker_ " I mentally shrugged, orders were orders and all very well I thought but I still needed some top cover.

"Uh how, my boss isn't going to sign off on that and we don't have the budget…" Thomas cut him off.

" _You work for me now, so does your boss, so if he has any issues tell him to call my office, I doubt he will though"_ I knew he was right there, Thomas had installed a yes man in there not long after he'd taken over, like the rest of the division I knew exactly who called the shots in IA. _"As for the money, my office will cover the costs from contingency funds"_ Hearing that I knew there was only one thing I could say.

"Yes sir"


	24. Chapter 24

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **24 Alex's changes**

Olivia's viewpoint

I was busy getting breakfast ready when I heard Alex coming my way, her stiletto heels clicking on the marble in the hall and announcing her presence long before she strolled into the kitchen looking like a million dollars. That's actually massively understating it in the literal sense, but she surely looked good enough to eat up this morning.

I paused from where I was checking the eggs and looked her up and down, taking in everything about her, something had changed in recent weeks and I'd been wondering what it was; seeing her standing there in her stylishly tailored work clothes fiddling with her leather watch band gave me time to soak up everything that Alex was and let me try and figure out exactly what had changed.

It wasn't one big thing I decided, it was lots of little things that all added up. She looked up to see me watching her and smiled, drawing an unconscious smile in return.

"Hey"

"Morning beautiful" I walked over to her and pulled her into my arms, kissing her long and deep, unmindful of the fact that I was messing up her hair and lipstick. Finally pulling back I took in her slightly disheveled look with a certain pride, she looked a little out of breath and just a fraction stunned, something that brought a real sense of accomplishment; that I could still do this to her after more than a year together… Alex looked at me and smiled happily.

"Not that I'm complaining, at all, but what brought that on?" she asked. I smiled and let her go, taking a step back.

"Just appreciating how good you look Angel, all the changes look great"

"Changes…" Her hand came up to touch her rimless glasses. "You mean these?"

"Them sure" I said. Alex had picked them up a week or so ago, adding them to her collection of glasses, the different styles part of her accessorising, matching them with her suits. "But it's not just those"

"Really, what else?" I took another step back and nodded towards the floor.

"You've always worn heels to court, but they used to be two or three inch pumps with thicker heels, now you're wearing a set of patent leather four inch stilettoes" Alex nodded slowly. "As I recall, you only got them and another pair just like them after you moved here" Alex's eyes unfocussed for a second as she searched her memory.

"I went shoe shopping with Maura..." I smiled, naturally...

"Yep, then there's the suit" Alex's hand automatically came up to smooth down the lapel of her tailored black suit jacket.

"What about it?"

You've always looked good Angel, but that suit you're wearing is different, it's still tailored, but it's a little tighter, a fraction shorter and a bit more feminine and sexy. Let me guess, you got it out here right?" She nodded slowly, the words coming out slowly as well as she considered what I was getting at.

"Yes, I bought them with Nat and then went to the tailor she and Maura use for alterations, it's the one Sharon recommended. She's been going there for years" I smiled as I replied.

"Makes sense, they all look great, they know how to dress to impress and their tailor's obviously used to fitting their clothes to them to make the most of their figures. He's just done the same to yours too" Her expression was thoughtful as she nodded.

"I suppose, when I got them back I liked the cut, liked what he'd done" she said, then smiled. "I thought they fitted really well and Andrea complimented me on it the first time she saw it on but I hadn't really thought of it like that"

"And then there's your hair" At my words her hand naturally came up to touch it; her blonde locks were both a little longer and a little more blonde since we first arrived.

"What about it?" she asked, puzzled.

"You've grown it out a bit, I like it" I stated. "It looks great longer, plus it's a bit more blonde thanks to all the sun you've been getting, it goes well with your tan, it really suits you" She smiled softly.

"Well, we have a pool and it'd be a shame to waste it" I smiled as I made my way back to the stove top, any reason for Alex to parade around in a swimsuit sure counted as not 'wasting it' in my book.

"Exactly, plus you don't need to wear stockings anymore" I said. "It doesn't get that cold here and your legs are nice and brown now" Alex was nodding as I spoke, a sardonic smirk to her lips.

"So what you're saying is I've turned into a California beach bunny and you like it?" I smiled as I checked on the eggs then replied.

"I liked you before you went native, now…" I made a show of licking my lips. "Now I have to say I like this side of you, a lot" She stood there, one hand on her hip, an eyebrow cocked.

"Shallow much Liv?" I smiled at her teasing tone.

"Nope, just appreciating the new you" She nodded slowly then spoke, her voice teasing.

"And what exactly are you going to do about the new me?" I looked her way and smiled at her, my voice a little speculative.

"I don't think I'm feeling too well this morning, maybe I should call in sick and spend the day in bed" Alex just nodded slowly, not bothering to hide the skepticism writ large on her face.

"And what exactly would you be doing in bed all day?" I smiled at her, all innocence.

"I was kinda hoping you'd call in sick too?" The look on her face was pure ' _doh_ ', something her next words confirmed.

"I have a meeting with Brenda this afternoon to discuss the Witsec case, you don't think Brenda's going to think it's just a little suspicious, both of us 'feeling not too well'…" She put it in air quotes. "…on the same day? She didn't make Deputy Chief by being that easily fooled. She'd put two and two together in under two seconds" I sighed, she was right, damn it.

"Never thought I'd say this but there's a down side to working for a boss who's also a friend" I said sadly. Alex just smiled and strolled past me, patting me gently on the cheek as she did.

"Save that thought for tonight Tiger, I'll see if I can wrap up a little early tonight" I smiled and nodded, remembering the black and ivory lace lingerie she was wearing under her suit with pleasure and a little anticipation, she looked great in it and would look even better as I stripped her out of it. My eyes followed her round the bench top and round to one of the fridges where she opened it up and retrieved a carton of prune juice and poured herself a large glass full before replacing the carton in the fridge, the only one of the four we were actually using.

"What's the chance of that happening?" I said as she took a sip of her prune juice; I suppressed a shudder, how she can drink that stuff... It was apparently supposed to be a good source of potassium and iron and essential vitamins and stuff but still…

"Maybe, most of our prep work for the trial's done, we've heard the trial date's set for Monday two weeks from now so it looks like the defence has had all the prep time they asked for, not that I'm complaining" she said, then smiled. "It gave us plenty of time to build the case" I nodded as I flipped the bacon on the skillet.

"The evidence must be pretty damning, given some of what I've heard in the squad room and from the others" She nodded; staring my way but lost in thought, then came back to me.

"If this was a normal case it'd be open and shut, but it's likely to turn into a circus, Peterson, the prosecutor I told you about..." I nodded, I remembered; I also clearly remembered just how foul a mood Alex had been in after that meeting, I almost felt sorry for him, almost. "He's got nothing, so he's likely to throw as much mud as possible at Brenda and Sharon, especially given they're together" Alex grimaced. "I'm also afraid that he's going to try and smear Jane, Maura, Nat and Ana's evidence as well for the same reasons" I thought that over for a few seconds as I watched the food cooking then looked up to see Alex watching me.

"I know I'm not a lawyer, but it hardly seems germane to the case" At my comment Alex nodded slowly.

"Normally no, but given they don't have much else, I'm almost certain they're going to go for the smear instead" she said, grimacing. "It may get dirty" She paused, her eyes unfocused for a moment before she came back to me. "Scrub that, given how that fool Cox was carrying on at that meeting I told you about it's going to get dirty, very dirty"

I nodded as I looked under the grilled tomatoes and checked the bacon and eggs again, both were just about done. Now was as good a time as any I suppose.

"Brenda called me and Mikki in yesterday afternoon" Alex regarded me with curiosity in those big blue eyes.

"Mmm?" she prompted. I glanced down at the breakfast on the stove top and decided they were done, switching off the gas jets as I answered.

"Mikki and I will be assigned to be your security in the court and outside for the duration" I saw her eyes widen.

"Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but do you think it'll be needed?" she asked as I started plating the tomatoes, bacon and eggs while she drifted to the other end of the bench where the stools were, the cutlery already laid out.

"Dunno, I hope not, but as she put it, better safe than sorry" I picked up both plates and made my way down to sit across the bench corner from her, sliding her plate in front of her, putting mine down and taking my seat, this way we were facing each other. "Given the charges and the fact that Kennedy and the others came after Nat and Maura and the rest, I'm not going to argue with her" I got a slow, thoughtful nod.

"Maybe not, on the other hand they are all in custody" She suddenly smiled at me. "Still, given how ugly this is likely to get, it'll be nice to have you there" I smiled and gestured at the plate.

"Glad to be there, now eat up before they get cold" I got a quick smile as she picked up her knife and fork as I gave a tiny sigh of relief. I didn't want Alex to worry, but Brenda had been concerned enough to assign us to protection duty for the duration of the trial and she wasn't one to jump at shadows. Given how ruthless those sons of bitches had been, I didn't think it was an overreaction at all. To keep her mind off that I steered us into chatting about various things before Alex changed the topic to this weekend.

"Looking forward to Saturday night?" I smiled, a little apprehensively if truth be told.

"The infamous club night at the Intersection, I hope it's good" She shrugged.

"Based on the photos and stories I've heard it should be a blast" Alex shrugged. "It'll be interesting to see what they have planned for us" She was referring to the fact that Nat and Maura took charge of what everyone was to wear on club night, they'd asked for our measurements, all our measurements, down to the most minute details, which had led to Alex and I measuring each other up with a tape measure, right down to shoe sizes and arm lengths and thigh circumference. They'd told us they'd arrange everything, making me a bit apprehensive about it all but Jane and Ana had told me that it'd be fun and not to worry about it.

I still worried. Picking up on it Alex swallowed a mouthful of eggs and smiled at me.

"Cheer up Tiger, it'll be fun" she gave me a wink. "Besides, what could go wrong?"

"That's kinda what I'm wondering" That drew a laugh from Alex.

"I'm sure we'll get into all sorts of trouble, after all isn't that the whole idea?" I shook my head slowly as I replied.

"That's what I'm worrying about"


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N** I was asked by a guest about the previous Club Nights; for all the details check out Chapters 58, 59 and 60 of Intersecting Lines Book 1 and chapters 12 and 13 of Intersecting Lines Book 2

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **25 Club Night Part 1**

Olivia's viewpoint

It was going to be our first Club Night at the Intersection and I was nervous as hell.

I mean we'd heard all about it and seen the pictures but still weren't sure exactly what we were getting into, obviously a hot night of partying, dancing and fun, well we sure found out when we turned up at Maura and Jane's and I discovered what Nat and Maura had bought for us to wear.

I'd ended up in one of the bedrooms wearing a G-string and a barely there lace strapless bra under a pair of black latex bike shorts and a black latex 'muscle' tee shirt, both so tight that all my hard-earned muscles were on show, moving under the latex. Looking in the mirrors I'd swallowed a bit when I saw myself, it was way more exhibitionist than anything I'd ever worn before; sure I'd worn singlets and shorts when I'd been in the gym, but this...this was designed to put every inch of my body on show. Looking down I could see the curves and planes of every muscle through the latex, a glance over my shoulder into the mirror had shown every muscle and the curve of my ass was wrapped in skin-tight black latex, almost like a sculpture in shiny black marble. The black chunky-heeled calf-length motorcycle boots and the short black leather jacket they'd got me wearing teamed with it all to scream 'diesel dyke' in the loudest way possible.

Ana finished working some gel though my hair, making it spiked to add to the 'tough girl' look then stepping back and looking at her job critically for a moment before nodding once. She turned and spoke to Jane who was leaning against the wall watching.

"That's about right I think, what do you think Jane?" Jane nodded slowly as I took in what she was wearing; a skin-tight white latex halter neck dress, the v of the neck drawing your eyes to her breasts while the low back emphasised the smooth well-muscled skin of her back, her dark hair and olive skin contrasting against the white latex. She looked like a fetish fantasy and I wondered how the somewhat shy, body-conscious woman I'd first met had changed enough to be comfortable enough to wear clothes like that out to a gay club. The bottom of the dress was a lot closer to the crotch than the knees, drawing attention to her long legs, something her white high-heeled stilettoes emphasised. Dressed like that and with her hair teased and wild, make-up bold and sexy, there was little of the woman I'd first met a year ago visible now.

"Perfect, you'll be every little girl's wet dream tonight Liv" she said as I chewed my lip for a moment before, finally, with another look in the mirror I spoke.

"I don't know about this…" Ana shrugged, unconcerned.

"I do" she stated blithely. "You'll have the women at the Intersection drooling over you all night"

"But I don't want them; I don't want any of that" I said, a little plaintively, drawing a smile from Ana as she replied.

"I know, but on the other hand there's a certain blonde out there waiting for you who's going to be left speechless when she sees you looking like that" she said as Jane nodded agreeably.

"Yeah, plus it's kinda nice to be admired, wanted even, but to know you're going home with one of the prettiest women there, that you're hers and she's yours, that's the best feeling" Jane stated as Ana smiled reassuringly.

"Hey don't worry about the rest, that's just icing on the cake, the best part is how Alex is going to react" At Ana's words I looked from Jane to Ana who was wearing a set of black latex leggings that looked like they'd been painted on, they were that tight, teamed with a black latex top with gold highlights that left her shoulders bare and put her tits on show, perched on black patent leather stiletto-heeled ankle boots, she was an erotic dream come true for guys and girls both. I shook my head.

"How did you end up comfortable like this?" I waved my hand at them both. "I mean I don't know about you Ana, but I know Jane would have died before wearing this stuff back in Boston…" Jane shrugged.

"I got my horizons expanded out here by Nat and Maura" she said as Ana nodded then spoke up.

"Nat is not body conscious at all, she's a big believer in if you've got it, flaunt it" Jane nodded at her words.

"Maura got on board with that not long after we got here and they ended up getting us dressed like this for first time we went to the Intersection's Club Night" she said before shaking her head. "That was a hell of a night" she said, her voice reflective as Anna chuckled.

"Oh hell yeah" she said, obviously it was a good memory for both of them. Before I could speak Jane pushed on, her voice a little softer.

"I get it Liv, I do" she said. "But there's lots of reasons we do this, I mean it makes them happy" Anna nodded and jumped in.

"Very, and they like making us know how much they like it" she said, smiling as Jane took up the story again.

"They dress like this too, so we get to see them looking incredibly sexy" I nodded as Jane continued. "Then there's the atmosphere at the club; lots of beautiful woman there, including models, celebrities, actresses, you name it, many of them looking at us with envy and lust and desire, that's kind of a turn on right there, to be wanted"

"It is, god knows being hit on by all sorts of hot women is a hell of an ego boost" Ana said. "But at the end of the day I'm going home with a beautiful woman who loves me as much as I love her, it doesn't get better than that" I nodded.

"I understand, it's just that this…" I waved my hand down my body, indicating what I was wearing. "It's way out of my comfort zone" Jane nodded sympathetically as Ana spoke up.

"I know; it took me a while to get used to this…" She turned to show me her back, her ass was a thing of wonder, the shiny black latex pants stretched tight across her butt and tightly wrapping around her legs looked sensational, like Jane her make-up and hair were wild and alluring, the buttoned-down Bureau agent was gone, replaced by an amazingly hot and sexy vision. She turned back and shrugged. "But I've come to enjoy it, we get to be the people we're not, play at being the hottest bitches in the club for the night, let go and have fun, we get to live out a fantasy" She winked. "Plus Nat's happy to play too" Jane nodded.

"Same with me" She waved her hand down her body. "You're right, I'd never have worn this back in Boston, but here, I'm playing a game for the night, one that we all like to play, plus knowing that the person you love is doing the same and we're all happy playing together, well that makes it a real treat" she suddenly grinned. "You should have seen the look on Sharon's face when we dragged them off to their first Club Night, oh god, if you think you're not sure…" Ana smiled broadly at the obviously good memory and chimed in to back Jane up.

"Hell yeah, she was all kinds of scared, thinking she didn't look good" Her rolled eyes and Jane's scoffing sound showed what they both thought of that idea. "Apparently Brenda thought exactly the same, but we told them if they didn't want to eat the other one up the moment they saw each other, they didn't have to wear them" Ana said as I nodded, seeing where they were going with this.

"I take it they did?" The reaction to my question was abrupt; both happily laughing for a few seconds before Jane replied.

"Oh god yes, they took one look at each other and you could tell all they wanted to do was drag each other back to bed" I nodded, if Sharon and Brenda could do this, then I could I suppose, even if I felt like I was on show.

"I guess…" Hearing the doubt in my voice Ana was reassuring.

"Trust me Liv, the same deal works here, if you don't look at Alex and all you can think of is doing her and if you don't see the same in her eyes, then you can call it off" Jane snorted.

"Fat chance of that, Liv, she's going to want to eat you the moment she sees you"

Finally, ready to their satisfaction, we made our way out into the living area to find the others waiting for us like three embodiments of sex and fantasy come to life. Nat and Maura were sensationally hot, Nat in a form-caressing black latex cat suit with the zipper undone down to between her breasts, she obviously wasn't wearing a bra, while her feet were in matching boots, complete with what looked like metal spiked heels, one part sex symbol, one part dominatrix and clearly everything Ana wanted, given the lust obvious in her eyes, a look Natalie returned with equal intensity. By her side Maura was a vision in red, a red leather corset that lifted her breasts up and out, making her sensational boobs even more drool-worthy, while tight red leather pants teamed with patent leather red stilettos made her legs seem even longer, both of them were looking sexy and hot and ready to party, even as they took in their lovers with obvious approval.

Alex was standing there with them; equally amazing. She looked like, well I was kinda speechless, she was wearing black latex, just like me, but where mine was all about emphasising my physique, hers was about emphasising her lean form and long legs.

It was a little black dress sure, but in latex, very, very form-fitting latex, emphasising her lean, runner's physique. It came halfway down her thighs, the black of the latex and the black leather gladiator-style high heels wrapping around her calves emphasising the long length of her endlessly toned legs, and they did look endless, all I wanted to do was spend the night running my tongue all the way up and down them, driving Alex wild as I did.

The dresses' shoulders and short sleeves covered her shooting scar while the scoop neck drew attention to her breasts which the latex pushed in and up, drawing my eyes to her cleavage, her hair was wild and teased, makeup dark and smoky, she looked like a sexual predator on the hunt and honestly, I couldn't wait to be her prey.

She'd ditched the glasses but I could see the darkness in her eyes was due more to lust than make-up or contacts as she raked her eyes up and down me, then looked up into my eyes, the smile she turned on me was hot and hungry as she sauntered my way, slow, exaggerated steps as she swung her hips in a way that she normally saved for the bedroom.

"Well what do we have here?" she said, her voice slow and sultry, then made a show of licking her lips as her eyes ran over me from top to bottom and back again before she caught my eyes, approval obvious in her eyes and voice. "You look like dessert"

I glanced down, taking in my body for a second, feeling all hot and bothered at the obvious want in her voice, before taking a breath and looking up; ' _c'mon Benson, time to get into the game_ '.

"Oh, feeling like a snack?" I said as she stopped a few inches in front of me and leaned in, I thought she was going to kiss me before she took a sniff, taking in the perfume I was wearing, then leaned in and spoke, her voice drizzling into my ear like warm honey.

"Oh Tiger, I'm going to gorge myself on you tonight, I cannot wait to get you into bed and fuck you senseless" I swallowed convulsively at her voice as she leaned back, a lascivious smirk on her lips. So much for feeling uncomfortable in these clothes; oh I was feeling uncomfortable all right, but for an entirely different reason. Nat strolled up next to Alex, a wicked smile on her lips and mischief in her eyes as she rested a hand on Alex's shoulder and leaned in, her head next to Alex's.

"I take it you approve?" Alex tossed a quick glance her way and nodded once, her voice a little throaty.

"Fuck yeah!" They shared matching smirks as Nat nodded slowly.

"Told you she'd be delicious, you need to keep a close hold on her tonight, she's going to attract attention; well you both are, but Liv here…" She ran her eyes over me in obvious approval. "If I was single and saw her like that, all hot and butchy I'd want her to fuck me raw all night" I felt my cheeks flush at her words, I mean she was stunning but she was Ana's…I threw an uncertain glance Ana's way to see her grinning happily at us, her arm around Maura's waist, the same as Jane's, the three of them standing close and obviously completely comfortable in each other's presence, as Maura's arms around both of their waists attested.

I suddenly realised what Ana had said about playing a fantasy, to be the hottest bitches in the club, just for the night, the teasing and innuendo all part of the game. I knew now what they meant, they were getting their game faces on, their hot and sexy game faces. This was only the start, from what Alex had told me we were going to flirt and tease and arouse each other all night, all as part of the game, plus I knew exactly what was going to happen later tonight, Alex had made it very clear that the real fun started when we got back, the post-Club Night game of each couple trying to outdo the others in making their lovers scream, the louder the better.

I looked back at Alex, standing there next to Natalie, seeing the lust and approval in their eyes and nodded. This might be outside my comfort zone, but a great night with our friends? I could endure some embarrassment for that, and as for making Alex scream my name as she came over and over again? Well I was happy to admit I lived for that.

"Sorry Nat, I may look 'delicious' and all, but I'm apparently someone else's dessert tonight" Nat grinned.

"I'm sure Alex here would be happy to share with her sister, wouldn't you babe?" Alex rolled her eyes then smirked at Nat.

"Sure 'sis', you can have whatever's left" She looked my way out of the corner of her eye and winked, then continued. "Too bad I don't intend to leave anything by the time I'm finished" she said, drawing a teasing insult.

"Greedy bitch" As they snickered happily Maura's heels clicked across the floor as she sashayed over, more overtly sexual than I'd ever seen her, another woman happy to get into her persona for the night. Walking past the other two, Maura reached up and caressed my cheek with one hand, her voice low and sensual.

"Don't worry Olivia, by the time we're finished with you, you will have only one thing on your mind" She moved very close to me and turned, then snuggled back against me, surprising the hell out of me as I felt her butt come into contact with my hips as she reached back and took my hands in hers, pulling them around so that they met across her tummy, my arms hugging her as she leaned her head back and turned so she was speaking into my ear. "Natalie may have designs on you, but all you will want is Alex and I am sure she will want the same" I got a light kiss on the corner of my mouth before she leaned into my ear and whispered. "Such a shame, you truly look stunning and I can see, and feel, the attraction"

I looked at her, surprised, but got a teasing chuckle in return before Alex spoke up.

"Unhand my woman you shameless harlot" Maura just grinned, wiggling her butt back against me, then spoke.

"If that is what Olivia desires…" I shook my head and unclasped my hands.

"Sorry Maura, but my woman has spoken" I got a wink from Maura as Nat spoke.

"Looks like someone's staking their claim, something that you're going to have to do at the club" As Maura slipped out of my arms she continued. "Both of you look amazing, and cause it's your first time there the sharks are going to circle" Jane nodded as she walked over, one arm coming to rest naturally across Maura's shoulders, pulling her close as they faced us, standing next to Natalie.

"Yeah, expect the passes, especially if you're alone, mind you, both of you should be used to that anyway" I nodded, seeing Alex do the same as I held out my hand to her, the smile I got as she took it and moved to snuggle close made everything worth it.

Ana's phone trilled for a moment and she retrieved it from her bag as we watched, hoping it wasn't an emergency call out; we were off the roster but still… Reading the message there she nodded and smiled, typing something in response before dropping it back in the bag and wandering over. She stepped up behind Natalie and slid her hands around Nat's waist, getting a soft contented smile as the blonde relaxed back against her.

"All this talk's keeping us from the main event guys" Ana said and then placed a kiss to Nat's neck just below the ear, making her shiver a little, before looking round and speaking up. "That was the car; it's here so we'd better head off. I want to dance and have fun" There was general agreement at that and we gathered our stuff before heading out.

The limo dropped us at the club and I looked over the long line of people waiting to get in; taking in what they were wearing I was a little relieved to realise we weren't dressed completely inappropriately, there were enough women in leather and latex to ensure we didn't completely stand out, plus plenty of women in scraps of cloth that could be charitably called dresses, on a good day. We walked up to the entrance past the line waiting to get in, drawing wolf whistles, come-ons and cat calls as a big black guy and a muscular red-haired woman next to her both greeted us happily, the red head unhooking the chain as she spoke.

"Hey, good to see you guys again" She took us in with a glance, her eyes widening. "And who do we have here?" she said in an obvious Irish accent as Nat smiled and turned to include us.

"Aisling, Cletus, these are our friends from New York, the ones we told you about, Alex and Olivia" I saw a set of green eyes run appraisingly over Alex, the slow, hungry smile letting everyone know what she thought, before they turned to me and widened slightly.

"Bloody hell, you weren't kidding when you said she was butch" The look she turned on me as her eyes ran all over me was frankly ravenous. "Shit…" She shook her head as I tried to stay cool before she laughed, turning to Alex. "Keep this one on a close leash tonight girl, she's gonna drive all the little girls wild in there" I smiled a little tentatively as Alex looped her arm through mine.

"Oh don't worry, this one's mine and I'm not letting her out of my sight" Aisling nodded then spoke.

"Very wise, they'd told me she was hot but hell, I'd be tempted to steal her but this lot would kick my arse if I tried"

"Damn straight" It was Jane, followed by Ana.

"I'd hate to kick your ass Aisling, It's such a nice one too" The teasing didn't stop as Aisling's reply showed.

"It's yours whenever you want gorgeous, just make sure Natalie's in on the deal" Nat shook her head.

"Don't get your hopes up Aisling" That drew a grin as Aisling replied.

"When you lot are in the club, it's not just my hopes that go up" While they bantered I gave the big guy, Cletus, a close look. There was something about him. I nodded his way as I dredged my memory; his face was kinda familiar somehow…

"I'm Liv" He nodded; I could see his eyes on my face as he replied.

"Cletus" The voice was deep and rumbling but gentle too, not all that common, a memory clicked into place as soon as I heard it. I knew this guy, not in person but I'd heard that voice on the news. He'd been a beat cop back in New Jersey who'd been in a gang shootout, he'd chased a suspect round a corner and been fired at, he'd returned fire and missed, but his shot had hit a young boy who'd stuck his head out a door further up the corridor, killing the eight year old instantly.

It had been an accident, but the Hispanic community had reacted with anger and riots, forcing Commissioner Reagan to run a full-court investigation. That had cleared him but an ambitious Hispanic lawyer with political ambitions had brought a wrongful death suit against him and won, the jury of mostly Black and Hispanic members had found him guilty and the resultant damages had bankrupted him.

He'd left the force and vanished, most of the cops who'd followed the case thought it was a disgraceful stitch up, but the cop had seemed a broken man after the shooting, he'd honestly lost the will to fight after it. I couldn't remember his name but it sure as hell wasn't Cletus though.

He must have seen the change in my expression as his eyes narrowed but I shook my head and then smiled as I nodded once, he'd obviously made a new life here and honestly, who was I to fuck that up for him? His eyes widened even as the rest of the group were being ushered in so I let myself be carried in with them, catching a slight, relieved smile appear on his face as we headed inside.

I have to say being considered a VIP was something I could get used to. We were shown to our table in the basement restaurant by the attractive female maître d', dressed in a white latex tuxedo top over skin tight black pants and boots she had smiled welcomingly to the others before her eyes had narrowed, taking in both Alex and I before smiling and shaking her head slightly. As we'd been warned, the food was okay, not amazing but the atmosphere more than made up for it, surrounded by hot women dressed to impress, it was obvious that we were welcome guests here, a small stream of people stopping by on the way to or from their tables to say hi. As the latest couple left Alex leaned forward.

"You seem really well known here?" The others smiled and shared glances before Nat jumped in.

"Well, we've been to plenty of these nights and people get to know you" She smiled. "We were mostly hit on the first few times, since then people have gone out of their way to say hi" Jane snorted and interrupted.

"Some of those people saying hi were basically checking out who might be available" Maura smiled.

"They were visibly disappointed to learn that we were in fact couples, some however were quick to accept that and moved beyond that to become friends" Ana nodded and picked up the thread.

"We've brought friends as well, first Brenda and Sharon, then Mikki and Andrea, so our little group has something of a reputation, something your presence tonight will only enhance" I frowned at that.

"How come they're not here tonight?" Nat smiled widely.

"Both couples were invited" she said. "However they both said that tonight was a night for just us, they'll be joining us next month" I nodded, seeing Alex doing the same, honestly I was kinda touched, it was humbling to have friends who cared so much for us that they passed on a great night out to make it more special for us. Alex obviously thought the same.

"That's…really wonderful, we have to have them out for a lunch at our place as a thank you, something really nice for everyone soon" Maura nodded.

"I am sure they would appreciate that.

Dinner passed quickly, a light salmon salad, nothing too heavy, before we made our way up to the main floor again. We had our own VIP enclosure up on the mezzanine above the main dance floor, a place we could return to between sets on the floor, rehydrate and relax as we looked out over the heaving mass of dancers.

We got set up before Alex turned to me with a teasing smile and took my hand, leading me downstairs to the dance floor, loosing ourselves in the mass of bodies and wall of sound as we were joined by the others. That was how it went, sessions on the dance floor interspersed with breaks in the enclosure, we swapped partners regularly; both Nat and Maura danced with me, both dancing close, teasing looks in their eyes a match for their happy smiles as we danced on through the night.

Jane and the others had been right, we were hit on, regularly, some would come and drop by to the VIP area, flirting quite blatantly, usually though they'd get the message after a few pointed words, one of two wouldn't be dissuaded until Alex and I demonstrated we were most definitely a couple, all in all though they weren't the worst, those were the ones that tried to accost us when we were alone. Ana had already rescued Alex once, while Jane and Natalie had both made it a point to walk with me to the ladies a few times, their welcome presence keeping most of the attention seekers at bay, reduced to little more than come ones and invitations only.

Unfortunately one time I was making my way back from the ladies alone when I was accosted by three girls, none of them could be much over twenty, all of them looking me over like they were starving and I was thanksgiving turkey with all the trimmings. The first one smiled and planted herself in my path as her companions tried blocking me in.

"Hey beautiful, come and play with us for a while" I tried for polite.

"Thanks but I'm not interested" It didn't seem to register.

"Why the hell not baby?" She glanced at her companions. "We're willing to share you, aren't we?" The other two made agreeable noises and predatory smiles as I worked to stay cool.

"You may be but I'm not, so thanks for the offer but no" The brunette on the right reached out and ran her fingers down my arm.

"C'mon honey, it'll be fun, besides, who'd turn down a night with the three of us?" I carefully stomped on my temper as I shook my head once.

"Me" She looked affronted by my denial but before anyone could say anything a welcome voice inserted itself into the conversation.

"Go away little girls, this woman is mine" Alex stepped up alongside me and slid her arm around me, leaning in for a kiss that was deep and needy and eager, Alex was getting territorial and more than happy to show it. I felt myself getting aroused by its intensity, something I was sure was obvious in the top I was wearing, unfortunately. Finally Alex pulled back and smiled wickedly, she knew exactly what she'd done to me, before turning to the others. "She's mine so why don't you get lost, she's not interested in you" The leader of the pack looked at Alex then back at me and sneered.

"You just gonna let this bitch claim you?" I smiled happily, unconcerned by her snide insinuations.

"Yes" That just seemed to anger her.

"You're a piss weak cunt then!" she exclaimed as I started to get a little pissed, before a voice distracted me.

"I wouldn't go there if I was you" It was Natalie, stepping up on my other side and reaching up to turn my head her way. I sure as hell didn't expect the kiss I got; it wasn't quite as hot and passionate as Alex's, but it wasn't too far off it, her tongue sliding into my mouth and exploring as she moaned slightly. I found myself responding almost unwillingly, I mean I belonged to Alex but Natalie was someone I loved and respected. Finally she broke it off and smiled at me, no doubt at the slightly stunned look on my face before she snuggled in against me and turned to favour the three girls with a haughty, 'cat got the cream' evil smile. "She's mine too" Nat and Alex exchanged a hooded look before Alex spoke to the stranger.

"Do you know why? It's because we're hers, she owns us as much as we own her" Faced with the sight of two stunning blondes in black skin-tight latex snuggled up against me the three women wilted. Deciding to go with it I wrapped my arms around both Alex and Nat and pulled them both closer as I chuckled.

"Beat it kids, I'm not interested in children, only real women" I got another, slightly less incendiary kiss from Nat at that before Alex spoke.

"Look all you want, because that's all you'll ever get, she belongs to me" She turned to look at me, her blue eyes staring deep into mine. "Isn't that right Tiger?" I happily nodded; eager to make it known I was hers.

"Hell yes" The kiss I got from Alex stole my breath away; I'd just discovered that while Nat was passionate and hot, a possessive, turned-on Alex was beyond arousing. Finally it ended, leaving me a little breathless as Nat chuckled. I looked round to see the three woman already disappearing into the crowd as others around watched us with amusement, envy and obvious lust in their eyes.

"Damn Alex, that was fun, can we do that again?" At Nat's comment Alex looked across at her and smiled wickedly, then glanced at me before speaking. "Enjoy your taste Nat, that's all you're going to get" Nat pushed out a fake pout.

"But Liv's a great kisser, plus she's nice and cuddly" Alex just chuckled as I smiled at her description; I'd been called many things before but not cuddly.

"Too bad, she's all mine right Tiger?" Alex stated as I nodded happily.

"Sure am Angel" I looked at Nat. "Sorry Nat" She just smiled and bent in, giving me a kiss on the lips, a light peck, not the toe-curling one from earlier.

"Fair enough I guess, I'll just have to take my frustrations out on Ana" With that we made our way back to our table where, true to her word, Nat wasted no time straddling Ana and proceeded to turn on a heated display of almost X-rated making out, to the applause and admiration of onlookers. I was almost embarrassed by their intensity until Alex pushed me back onto a chair then threw one long leg over my legs and settled down astride my lap.

"That looks like the perfect idea" Anything I might have considered saying was lost as she proceeded to maul my mouth, one hand in my hair, the other caressing my side as we lost ourselves in each other. Finally we broke apart for air as I smirked up at her, my hands resting on her ass.

"Remind me to let you get territorial whenever you want" She looked down at me and smiled.

"Just reminding you why you chose me, not Nat" I shook my head, tossing a glance over to where Nat was still engrossed in Ana then to where Jane was sitting in Maura's lap, her white latex stark against Maura's red as they snuggled close kissing gently, then back at Alex; it was really no contest.

"Don't get me wrong Angel, I love Nat, same as Maura and the others but you, you're the only one for me" She grinned happily at me.

"Right answer" With that she kissed me again, making me forget all about anything else for a while.

Eventually we made it back to the dance floor, with Nat dragging me close; as she laughingly put it we had to make our earlier story look real so she'd teased and tantalised me through three tracks while Alex danced with Maura, sandwiched between Jane and Ana as a knot of happy, loving friends, the sight making all my earlier worries about the night vanish as I heard her happy laughter as she reacted to something Maura had said. To be honest good times didn't get better than this.

There were breaks in the dancing as the DJ took breaks, the noise level in the club settling down a little as people took the chance to drink and relax, during one of them Aisling dropped by to join us for a chat. She was good company, even if she did flirt shamelessly, if good naturedly, with everyone, including Alex and I. I picked up from the others that this was all part of the night and gave back as good as I got.

"Fuck me" she stated at one point, waving at Ana and Jane. "They told me that they were cops and I was like, you have got to be kidding me" She shook her head. "Then they brought Brenda and Sharon, not just cops but senior ones to boot and they were fucking hot, even if they were a bit older, then it was Mikki and Andrea, now you" She took a sip of her Scotch. "I tell you, I should be trolling cop bars looking for some action" I smiled as Alex chuckled then spoke.

"Don't know too many more out here, though there is Kate…" She looked my way and winked and I ran with it, nodding slowly as Aisling looked my way and spoke.

"Kate?" I smiled.

"Yeah, Kate was my partner back in the day and still a damned good friend" Aisling let an eyebrow rise hopefully.

"Good looking?" I smiled as the others grinned and fished my phone out from the bag under the table, skimming through the gallery till I found a shot of Kate in a black leather jacket over a white button down and slacks, hair falling loose as she leaned back against her desk in the 12th precinct, smiling a little lopsidedly at me, I'd taken it while we'd been working that Lysenko case together a couple of months back. As I held it up Aisling's jaw dropped.

"Bloody hell, fuck me!" She shook her head then peered in at the image a little closer, a smile appearing. "Well actually, fuck her, or I'd like to" She sighed and leaned back, a resigned look appearing on her face.

"Let me guess, she's taken right, if she's anything like you lot she belongs to some gorgeous female cop or lawyer, am I right?" There were chuckles around the table as I shook my head, pulling the phone back and flipping through images until I came to a shot of Rick and Kate together taken up at their place in the Hampton's one weekend a few months back.

"Sorry Aisling" I said, holding the phone out as she leaned forward. "She's in love with a millionaire crime writer, they're very happy together" Taking in the picture Aisling's face screwed up.

"She's straight?" She shook her head slowly as she sat back. "What a rotten waste of a beautiful woman" That just led to a round of laughter around the table. I just grinned at her affronted tone as I spoke.

"It means you can look but don't touch" I got a good natured middle finger as she spoke.

"Where's the bloody fun in that then?"


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N** This story is rated M for a reason, this chapter being one of them.

This chapter contains depictions of consenting adults doing what consenting adults do when they feel like it, so if sexual content isn't your thing, please skip the chapter and move on.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **26 Club Night Part 2**

Liv's viewpoint

We'd left the club about 1, late enough that I knew my feet would be telling me about it in the morning, I'm not like Maura and Nat and Alex who live in heels, I just wasn't used to prancing and dancing in high heels the way they were.

The ride home in the limo seemed interminable; I had a lap full of a squirmy and obviously very turned on Alex, all thanks to that last session on the dance floor. Naturally the others had decided to get us riled up, Maura and Nat had sandwiched me between them, dancing close, hair flying, hands teasing, curves brushing me as they drove me silly, not that they were much better, both were obviously aroused, the looks on their faces boded well for both Jane and Ana later.

Alex on the other hand was pressed between Ana in front and Jane behind, I could see Jane's hands on her tummy holding her close as Ana shimmied up against her as Alex danced, her hands in the air and a joyous expression on her face, normally seeing someone so close to Alex, bodies pressed together would have had me seeing red but these were our friends, they'd tease her silly but Alex was as safe with them as she possibly could be.

Besides it was worth everything to see her so happy, I might have been apprehensive before we started but everything that had happened tonight had me already looking forward to the next Club Night, Jane had been right, it was fun to let go and pretend to be something, someone, we weren't.

The car dropped us at Jane and Maura's and we disentangled ourselves long enough to head inside; finally with the front door closed behind us I slumped back against the wall with Alex draped over me, one hand over my shoulder toying with my hair, the other on my tummy, drawing teasing circles. I didn't mind; I had one hand out of sight teasing the back of her thigh, just under her skirt, making her fidgety, much to my amusement though I didn't miss the narrowed look I got as I did, I could already tell she was going to make me pay for that later.

"So guys…" It was Jane. "Did you enjoy your first Club Night?" I nodded happily, it had been amazing fun; I couldn't wait to do it again, this time with Brenda and Mikki and the others, after all if six had been fun, ten would be even better.

"It was great" I said as Alex backed me up.

"We loved it" There was a round of happy smiles from the two couples, each happily entwined together as we stood in the foyer before Nat spoke up.

"Given its Club Night, I'm sure you both know the rules of the game?" I felt my cheeks warm slightly even as Alex nodded, rising to the challenge.

"Hope you're a good loser Nat" That got chuckles even as Nat snuggled even closer into Ana's arms.

"Amateur, try not to take it too hard when you lose" she said even as both Ana and Jane smirked and Maura spoke.

"Let the best couple win" Nat nodded and smiled.

"You're going down Cabot" He smile turned wicked even as her voice changed to match. "Literally" She winked. "Well you both are I'd say" Before the discussion got even more explicit; I know how Alex loves a good verbal give and take, I stepped in.

"If you will excuse me, I have lots better things to be doing right now…"

"By which you mean Alex" It was Jane, interrupting me even as Ana piled on too.

"Go on Liv, you can say it" Maura just rolled her eyes and pulled Jane in close.

"I look forward to your acknowledgement of our win in the morning" Alex shook her head, scoffing.

"Like that's going to happen" Nat smiled happily.

"You can apologise in the morning, right now I have some…one I'd rather be doing" She looked at Ana. "Don't we Tsarina?" Leaning in she kissed Ana, hard and dirty, finally they pulled back as Ana smiled and spoke, her voice low and sultry.

"Whatever you want Blondie" That was obviously just what Nat wanted to hear, her response was clear and decisive.

"You, bed, now" At that they started up the hall as we laughed at them before I turned to take in Alex, seeing the darkness in her eyes, all the banter had kept her fires stoked.

"What about it Angel, time for bed?" I asked, Alex turned to look at me and smiled in a slow, lascivious way.

"We'll get there, eventually" With that we turned to smile and nod at Jane and Maura, who were snuggled close, Jane's head bent as she and Maura engaged in a passionate kiss in front of us, hands already wandering. I shook my head at seeing our friends so different from normal, before Alex's hand tugged me away and up the hall.

"C'mon Tiger, I have places to go and people to do" With that she practically dragged me up the hall as chuckles from Jane and Maura followed us.

She stopped me outside the door of our bedroom as we heard a moan from the room across the hall; Nat and Ana already started and obviously hard at it. Alex reached out and banged the door once.

"Keep it down, some of us have real work to do" she called out, the answer she got was short and sharp from both of them.

"Fuck off!" I snickered to myself before Alex pushed me against the wall and snuggled close.

"Let's give them something to listen to" With that she flattened me between her and the wall and kissed me like she was starving, consuming me even as her hands wandered. Unbidden my hands came up to pull her even closer to me, even as I squeezed her ass through the latex appreciatively.

"Isn't that what the bedroom is for?" It was Maura as the made their way up the hall after us, Jane snuggled behind her with her arms around the blonde, I could see them both grinning out of the corner of my eye even as Alex lifted one hand away from my hair and gave them the finger, all the while not stopping her assault on me. Completely unfazed; Jane grinned and spoke.

"Let me help you with that" she reached out and opened the door on the opposite side of the hall into our bedroom. Not breaking my hold on Alex I nodded and walked her backwards across the hall and into the bedroom, kicking it shut behind me with my heel even as Alex shoved me back against the door, hands now inside my jacket, a breast in each searching hand. Finally she spoke, a single word.

"Off" with that she started shoving the jacket off, finally pushing it off my shoulders even as I struggled to get it down my arms, hampered as I was by my position pressed against the wall, not that it slowed Alex. With my arms kinda caught behind my back by the jacket, my chest was pushed forward, something she took full advantage of, her mouth dropping to my breasts, tonguing and sucking and teasing the latex-covered points as my head dropped back, unconsciously pushing them even further forward into Alex's hungry, eager mouth.

I felt a slim hand slip down across my body before sliding between my thighs, two fingers pressing in, making my hips buck as I chased the sensation, it wasn't enough though; I needed more, so much more. She stepped up beside me and grabbed my jacket, pulling it to one side and effectively immobilising my arms as her fingers teased and pressed and circled over my pussy, making me thrust my hips out as I sought more, more pressure, more contact, more everything.

"Please Angel" I whimpered, drawing an evil smile as she circled her fingers over my clit, teasing me without any meaningful relief.

"Please what Tiger?"

"Give it to me, I want it" Alex snugged in even as her fingers continued to tease and torment.

"What Tiger, what exactly do you want?" At my all too pathetic groan she smiled, even as she ran her fingers along my crease, making my hips jerk. "Use your words Liv, it's not that hard" I desperately drew my concentration together to ignore what she was doing and spoke, clear and simple.

"I'm going to fuck the ever living shit out of you then, I want you to fuck me" I got a blinding grin.

"I'm gonna hold you to that" With that she leaned in and swallowed my moans with her hot and needy kisses as she teased and tormented me with her fingers, I groaned at the teasing touch as she pressed into the latex, pressing into my core as she did, making my hips jerk. I could feel the moisture in my panties, soaking them as she worked me higher and higher with teasing touches. Finally after what seemed a small eternity of teasing torture she stepped back, even as I saw the flush in her cheeks and heard the slight pant in her voice, she wanted me as much as I needed her.

"Jesus Angel…" I said, finally managing to get the jacket off and dropping it on the floor, freeing my arms. "You're in a wild mood tonight" I got a wicked smirk in return.

"Like that do you?" she said as I nodded eagerly, like it? God yes…

"Fuck yeah"

"Oh I intend to" she smirked. "But first things first" I looked at her, trying to work out what she meant, eager to get her into bed where I could start driving her insane as payback for what she'd just done to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I've been turned on ever since I saw you walk out dressed like that" she frowned. "Don't think I'm not going to give Maura and Nat hell about that too, putting you on display like a choice cut of prime beef" Her eyes trailed down over my body as she smiled. "I watched every slut in that club drool over you all night, saw them proposition you, want you, desperate to fuck you, to have you take them like you're gonna take me, but they can't have you, you're mine" I nodded, giving her an off-centre grin as I nodded, smiling.

"Same here Angel"

"That's right, and to make sure you remember that, I'm going to show you every good reason why you belong to me" She favoured me with a slow, lascivious stare. "I am going to fuck you stupid Liv, by the time I'm finished with you, you'll barely remember your own name, let alone those sluts" I felt my mouth dry out as moisture pooled elsewhere at her words. "I am going to take you and fuck you senseless Tiger, you're mine and I'm going to show you exactly why" I nodded, seeing the darkness in her eyes, the sheer want.

"I'm yours Angel, you know that" I got a knowing smile.

"I do, but that doesn't mean a little positive reinforcement doesn't go a long way, does it?" She tipped her head to regard me. "But first I want you to take me Liv, I want you to take me, to own me, I want to be fucked" I swallowed at the certainty in her words, even as she turned and walked over to the gym bag full of street clothes and other stuff we'd brought with us and bent over at the hips, giving me a great view of a tight, running-toned ass covered in tight black latex panties atop two long, strong, lean legs, something she'd done deliberately, driving a low growl of possession from my throat, I wanted that, I wanted all of that. Alex obviously heard it as she threw a sultry glance over her shoulder.

"Hold that thought Tiger" "She turned back and muttered to herself. "Where is it…ah, there you are!" Straightening up she turned, one of our strapon's held in her hand. I noted it was the biggest one we owned, all ten inches long and two inches round, it looked like Alex had already anticipated what she wanted tonight, or maybe she wanted to use it on me, to be honest right now either was perfectly fine with me. Alex sauntered her way towards me, the toy hanging from her hand, swinging by the harness before she held it out.

"Here Tiger, I want you to put this on and then take me, hard and fast" I frowned, given how worked up I was…

"You sure Alex…?" The look in her eyes was pure lust.

"Never been surer of anything, I watched all those women lusting after you, propositioning you, and I didn't care because I knew you'd be fucking me tonight" She reached out, passing the toy across to me as she continued. "I've been turned on for hours Liv; fucking hours you hear me. Anticipating you fucking me up against the wall, hard and fast" She smiled, all wicked, lustful smirk. "Just the thought's enough to make me soaking, dripping wet"

I nodded, feeling my own pussy get noticeably wetter at her words, I took the toy. It was the one that fitted around your waist and crotch like pants, held together with wide Velcro on each side so you could tighten it as tight as you liked to hold it in place, it easily slipped over the latex of my shorts and we tightened it up as snug and tight as we could. I turned from making sure it was sitting right to see Alex stepping out of her panties and kicking them off to one side. I swallowed convulsively as she stepped up to me, our arms coming around one another as she snuggled up to me, lifting one leg to let her thigh ride up over the toy, then dropping it again as it came to rest between her thighs, a slight 'oh' dropping from her lips as her eyes closed at the sensation of her pussy riding the toy's girth.

I picked her up, both hands cupping her ass as I hefted her light weight, her legs rising to wrap around my waist as her arms looped round my neck, we'd discovered that we both liked this position, not all the time, just when we were in the mood for something hot and nasty. Taking three steps I had her pinned against the wall as we kissed, all tongues and teeth, hot and urgent. Finally I pulled back, just a little, enough for her to snake a hand down between us, wrapping her fingers around the toy and moving the head into position, her legs tightening around my waist as she levered herself up to make room, something I helped with as I lifted her in my arms, her ass cheeks in my hands, holding her light weight ready. She wriggled for a second as I felt the pressure through the toy's base pressed up my groin as she got it positioned, a second later she opened her eyes, so dark with lust they seemed more black than blue and spoke, more moan than words.

"Fuck me Liv" I didn't have to be told twice, I slowly pushed forward, watching as Alex's teeth bit into her lower lip as her body welcomed the intrusion, it was our biggest and we didn't use it as often as the others, so I took it gentle, at least at the start.

Slowly, so slowly I pressed in, not stopping, just slow, inexorable pressure as I forced her wide to accommodate me, hearing her moans and gasps and sighs in my ear as she clung to me, inch by inch it slid in in one long, slow thrust even as her hands spasmed in my hair and at my neck as she moaned wantonly in my ear, sending my libido skyrocketing as I heard her.

"Oh god, yes, yes, more, gimme more, ah yessss"

To take this beautiful, accomplished, intelligent and sexy woman and render her so helpless at my hands, that was a massive turn on right there, to know I'd done this and that she belonged to me and me to her, it filled me with love, joy and a certain determination to fuck her into senseless ecstasy. I pressed harder, crushing her between the wall and me, her legs spasming around my hips as she tried to speed it up, I had both hands on her ass as I pulled her onto me, impaling her on my cock as she started to writhe and moan.

Finally, with a slow pull on her ass I thrust the last inch inside, feeling Alex's thighs pressed hard against my hips as I was sunk deep inside her, a slight wiggle of my hips made her eyes fly open as she gasped, the sensations inside her overwhelming.

"So good, oh god, please…" I knew what she wanted and smiling, maybe a little cruelly, I slowly pulled back, sliding the length out as she mumbled incoherently, her head lolling back against the wall as I did, till it was almost all out, before I leaned in close to her ear.

"Ready?" I breathed, seeing blue eyes open and stare at me as she nodded eagerly and spoke out, her voice low and hoarse.

"Do it!" I couldn't help grinning at her plea, to know I was the one making her lose control and pushed forward, seeing her eyes roll back as all ten inches slowly, inexorably drove in, forcing a long, low moan out of her as I did.

"Oh yeah…." Bottoming out again, I rested there for a moment then pulled back, slowly working it out and then back in, over and over as Alex fell back against the wall panting and babbling as I started to speed up.

"Yeah…god…so good…please…please Liv…fuck…please…"

I didn't know what she was begging for and frankly I doubted she did either, I was just concentrating on driving her over the edge, my hips starting to move faster and faster, our gasps and pants loud in the room, even as I felt the sweat starting to appear on my brow as I pistoned in and out, all I wanted was to make Alex scream.

We set a punishing rhythm, Alex's head alternating between falling back against the wall, bouncing against it gently in time with my thrusts, and falling forward to lie against my shoulder as I did my best to fuck her into senselessness. Her voice was a long continuous moan, babbling really.

"Oh god…so good…yeah…fuck me… like that… god yes… don't stop…Liv, please…" What she wanted I had no idea, my whole world had narrowed down to her face in front of me, her body against mine as I pounded her over and over, my hips smacking against hers as I thrust into her, feeling her legs spasm in tightness round my waist as I bottomed out.

By now the sweat was running down my face, the pace was punishing but I didn't care, I was focused down to one thing, to make her come so hard, to give her what she so desperately wanted.

"So close, so close…" I heard her gasping moan and knew exactly what she wanted, I stilled for a second, then slowly, carefully, pulled back, drawing it out till barely the tip was still inside as her voice became little more than an incoherent mumble of 'please…please… please…" over and over again.

Bracing myself, I held her tight, seeing her hot, sweaty face directly in front of me, the pre-orgasmic flush that's her greatest tell making me smile, before I brutally thrust forward with all my strength. Her body slammed back into the wall, crushed between it and my body as the toy rammed harder and further into her than ever before, pushing her over the edge with a wild scream.

" **OH GOD!"**

She spasmed around me, her legs and arms convulsively clenching me to her, even as her head fell to my shoulder and I felt a sharp pain, her teeth sinking into my shoulder as she instinctively sought to bind us together in her climax. How long we stood there, her shaking body trapped between me and the wall I don't know, before I felt her go limp, her body spent.

I carefully stood up straight and carried her, still impaled, over to the bed and gently lifted her off, not without a whimpered protest at its removal, and laid her out on the bed, seeing her curl in on herself as I removed the strapon and laid it on the bedside table.

I slowly and with difficulty stripped the latex from our hot sweaty bodies, first from myself and then from Alex's unresisting form before I tumbled to the bed, lying there slightly apart to let ourselves cool off a bit as we recovered. A minute or so later Alex had recovered enough to roll to one side and face me, when she spoke her voice was low and slightly hoarse.

"Oh my god Liv, that was…"

"Good?" I interjected, getting a happy smile back

"More like fucking awesome" she stated unequivocally. We grinned at each other before Alex impulsively leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to my shoulder, right on the place where her teeth had sunk in. Finally she pulled back, a slightly shame-faced look on her face.

"Sorry" I smiled reassuringly.

"Don't be, I loved it" Honestly it stung a bit but if that was the price I'd pay for seeing her so happy and relaxed, I'd pay it gladly.

"That…that was so good Tiger, you were so good" We laid there for a moment, just kissing and letting our hands wander across each other's bodies before we heard a sudden rise in noise, Natalie's voice, screaming for Anna to fuck her, to take her, to fuck her ass; honestly some of the things she was screaming would have made me blush if I wasn't so relaxed and turned on. Hearing it Alex rolled over and smiled indulgently.

"Natalie's turned into quite the kinky slut" I rolled up on one elbow to face her and raised an eyebrow at her words as she continued. "She says it's all because of Ana but I think she always had it in her". That made me interested.

"Really, and you know this because…"

"No secrets between sisters, we all have our kinks" I smiled indulgently, ' _oh really?_ '

"Oh, and what's Maura's?" I asked, getting a sly smile from Alex.

"Our prim and proper Doctor turns into a voracious slut for Jane, she can't get enough of her; she'd do pretty much anything just to make her happy" I nodded, that seemed right.

"And yours is?" at my rhetorical question she smiled lazily.

"You know how much I love fucking you with my strapon" I nodded slowly as I replied.

"As much as I love doing you too" Her smile turned a little satisfied.

"Exactly" she said. "I love having you writhing under me, letting me have my way with you any…way…I…want" I grinned at her slow, lascivious words as I replied.

"You always were a top" She grinned at me as she spoke.

"Only because you let me" I shrugged.

"I like it" I got a giggle in response.

"New York's butchest lesbian cop, secretly a bottom" she said, making me pull a face at the thought, before mentally shrugging.

"Only for you Angel, only for you" She nodded, satisfaction in her voice.

"Just the way it should be" I went to speak when I heard Jane's voice, moaning. As I shared a look with Alex it rose higher, begging Maura to eat her, cries of ' _yes, yes!_ ' and ' _oh god_ ' before, with a shuddering cry, Jane obviously came and came hard, I looked across at Alex and we couldn't help it, breaking into giggles.

"Well…" I said, getting a slow nod from Alex as she replied.

"Jane sounded like she enjoyed that" I thought that was stating the blatantly obvious, but had to agree.

"Hell yeah!" Alex looked at me and smiled a slow, naughty smile.

"You ready to go again?" I nodded, but wondered if she was up to it so soon after coming so hard.

"Already, I mean if you're up to it?" Alex sat up, determination in her voice.

"There is no way am I going to let Maura or Natalie outdo me, and neither are you" I shook my head a little at her words.

"Y'know Alex, your competitive streak's going to get you into trouble one day" I commented, getting a slow, happy smile in return.

"I don't recall you complaining a few minutes ago" I had to concede that.

"Point" With that she leaned over and with one hand pushed me onto my back as she leaned in.

"It's my turn now" I got a kiss that started out hard before turning soft and loving, making me smile into it. I went to wrap her in my arms and pull her to me but she pulled away, wagging a finger at me

"Uh ah, like I said, my turn now" With that she slid her mouth slowly down my body, kissing and licking and nipping as she did, before wriggling her way between my thighs. She looked up at me and gave me a wicked smile.

"Remember Tiger, the object's to scream, so don't hold back, we have an audience after all" I was about to say something when her mouth dropped to my clit, making me gasp, before she set to work with gusto.

Alex got what she wanted, plenty of times during the rest of the night.

And so did I.


	27. Chapter 27

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **27 Aftermath**

Liv's viewpoint

The first thought that came to mind was that I was so sore; stiff and sore and aching but in a good way, with good reason.

The next one was 'did we really do that, all of that?'

The thought of all we'd done and how I'd ended up like that brought a small smile to my face. I lay there for a moment, not opening my eyes, just enjoying the peaceful Sunday morning, remembering all the things we'd done, we'd gone long and late into the early morning before we'd finally conked out. Alex had been pretty wild, she was an occasionally ravenous lover but last night had been something else. She'd taken me and been taken herself repeatedly, her gasps and moans and screams spurring me on to ever greater heights before we'd eventually collapsed, utterly spent.

We hadn't been the only ones either, I mean some of the things we'd heard, oh my god, the others had been as bad as us, all their inhibitions and self-control tossed on the same fire that had consumed us last night.

I was thinking about that when I winced, suddenly realising, us hearing them meant they'd equally clearly heard us, everything we'd done last night, every cry and demand and begging plea. We'd both lost all our restraints and been pretty damned vocal about what we wanted so they must have heard it all. I felt my face burn at the thought. ' _Oh god, kill me now_ '.

Very reluctantly I opened my eyes, taking in the dim room, barely lit with sunlight turning the curtains to a warm glow, turning my head to take in the glorious sight of a naked Alex sprawled face down across the top of the bed, half across the pillows, feet hanging off the edge, basically she'd finally passed out and hadn't moved an inch in the hours since, I'd obviously left her utterly wrecked, not surprisingly given how wild she'd been last night; a thought that brought a contented smile to my face as I stretched luxuriously, before any sense of satisfaction was forgotten as I winced at the sudden, not-so-gentle reminders that I was carrying my own mementoes of last night.

I'd collected a decent enough collection of scrapes and bites, she'd raked her claws down my back at least twice, each time while coming as I'd fucked her with the strapon, they were already stinging, they'd sting a hell of a lot more when I got under a shower, though in a way I didn't mind, together with the bites they were the tangible signs of a job very well done.

That was a problem for another time, right now I needed to take a pee and then get some coffee into me if I was going to be anything like functional today. Moving carefully, I gingerly, rolled off the bed, trying hard not to wake Alex then, grabbing one of the white fluffy bath towels hanging in the en-suite, I wandered out, looking for a bathroom where I wouldn't disturb anyone, then coffee.

As I took care of the first in one of the separate bathrooms I reflected that I now knew why they did this on a Saturday night and made sure they were off the call out roster; no way could I have a night like that and then back up and work the following day, I felt absolutely drained, really happy but also completely exhausted,

The body's most pressing need satisfied I went in search of the second, a coffee; heading into the kitchen I was surprised and a little embarrassed to find Natalie already there, sitting at the bench with a coffee of her own, hair a barely-tamed mess, wearing a white bathrobe and what couldn't be described as anything other than an honest-to-god 'just fucked' look; both suited her well as she took me in with a lazy smile.

"Hi Liv, the kettle's just boiled and there's instant on the bench" She shrugged. "Honestly I can't be bothered trying to use the coffee machine just yet, maybe when Ana gets up" She waved in the direction of a high end espresso machine that wouldn't be out of place in a busy café. I nodded in understanding, feeling the same way as I made my way towards the bench and retrieved a mug from a cupboard.

"It sounded like you were having fun last night" I felt my cheeks colour in embarrassment at her words as I concentrated on spooning the coffee into my cup, drawing a low chuckle before she continued. "Four fingers, wow, I didn't know Alex was so kinky, lucky her" I closed my eyes in mortification, wishing the ground would swallow me up. Natalie must have seen it as in a second she was standing next to me, her hand on my shoulder.

"Hey Liv, what's wrong?" I shook my head, not wanting to seem a prude or anything.

"Um…nothing" Nat obviously didn't believe a word of it.

Yes there is, c'mon Liv spill" I looked at her, seeing her blue eyes so close, their colour so like Alex's, the concern there obvious as I tried to explain.

"I'm just, well not as open as you are" She shrugged and smiled in relief as she replied.

"You will be, once you get used to it" I pulled a face.

"Maybe, maybe not, I'm not really as uninhibited as you obviously are" her smile widened as she spoke, a little reflectively.

"I wasn't like this either, back before I ended up with Ana, and moved here. It really started that first club night when we went with Maura and Jane, that sort of set everything up, it's become a game between us" She looked pensive for a moment then continued. "I couldn't do what we did last night with just anyone, it's really just with the people we trust; Jane and Maura, Brenda and Sharon and now you guys, it's a game we play with the people we love and care about"

"I'm not sure I'll ever be a comfortable with it as you obviously are" She shrugged eloquently.

"Didn't sound like you and Al were all that inhibited last night" At my unamused look she winked. "No seriously, you two were obviously having fun at the club and even more so back here"

"We were, it's just, well I feel embarrassed about you hearing us I guess" She looked a little surprised.

"So what? You heard us too, everyone here was having fun, no judgement, given what we all did no one's in any position to judge anyone else, even if we were that sort of people, which we're not" I struggled to put it into words.

"It's just…I mean you heard us, heard everything…" She shrugged; a smile on her face.

"Yeah, and you heard everything too, I got fucked raw, so did Ana, Jane and Maura too and you kept up with us all night, I fell asleep to Alex moaning, so you were obviously doing something right. So we heard what you and her like, you heard the same from us, no secrets, no judgement" I bobbed my head, still trying to put what I was feeling into words.

"It's just…I'm kind of private and to be so…I've never been like that"

"Like I said, neither was I before I got out here, sure, I could be bit of a tease, and yeah, I had a bit of an exhibitionist streak, but then I met Ana" She shrugged. "So what if people know I'm a well-fucked woman, look at the one whose doing it, I'm the luckiest woman in the world to be hers and for me to be mine" She smiled suddenly. "I know Maura feels the same and so does Alex"

"But that's in private, I mean this…"

"So? I learnt last night what I already knew, my sister and her lover are wild, passionate people, they know how to let go and make each other happy, something that's pretty much unanimous in this house last night" Natalie tipped her head to regard me. "Did anyone in here last night sound like they weren't having fun, honestly Liv?"

"Well no, obviously…" I got a nod.

"Let me tell you a little secret Liv. I spent last night making love to the most beautiful woman in the world, and had her do the same to me" Her expression turned reflective. "Like I said, I'm so damned lucky. Anyway, I got to hear the two women who mean the most to me after Ana enjoying exactly the same thing I was and let me tell you, that's pretty special, we're all unbelievably lucky. Anyway that wasn't the secret. The truth is, that while I love Ana and she loves me, same as Maura loves Jane, Maura's got the hots for you and Ana, same as I do for Jane and you" I felt my eyes widen as what she was saying hit me.

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong, I love Ana and could never cheat on her, she knows that and I trust her the same way but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a beautiful woman and you and Jane sure fit the bill. Plus you're both wonderful people. Hell, if we were both single trust me, I'd want you so bad, you and Jane both" I thought about that for a second, not sure how I felt about that revelation, buying myself some time with a question.

"What does Ana think about that?" Her snicker was immediate.

"She's got the hots for Alex and Maura, same as I'm pretty sure Jane has them for Alex and me, plus I know Alex feels much the same about Jane and Ana, you and them are all much the same, gorgeous, beautiful women inside and out" I pulled a face.

"I'm not so sure how I feel about all that Nat" She smiled.

"What it means Liv, is that we trust you and Alex and Jane and Maura more than pretty much anybody on the planet, because we love you and that's why we're so open and trusting, because you're the people we love" She smiled. "You're family, we all are"

"Alex is my family" I stated, it was true.

"Yep, you, Alex, Maura and Ana all grew up alone, Jane and I had younger brothers or sisters, but we've all grown into a new family, one full of sisters, we're pretty damned fortunate to have it really"

I thought about that for a moment, the truth there, Jane and Ana were like sisters to me, strong, resolute, there for me through anything; hell, their help in escaping New York testified to that. Ana and Jane felt closer than anyone I'd ever known, more than partners, my old partner Elliot and I had been close, but the relationship with Jane and Ana was deeper, closer…and then there was Nat and Maura, well they were like Alex, people I loved for being there, the light in our lives, so many of the good times were thanks to them, they made our lives complete just be being in them, plus I knew I'd protect all of them with my life, same as the others would. Nat was right; we were like a family, not by blood, by choice. I nodded.

"I see where you're coming from, it's just I'm kinda private, always have been" Her grin was quick and light.

"That'll change, I mean Jane was a bit shy when she started out here, but we changed that, between Maura and I we got her a lot more relaxed about who and what she was, to the point she's comfortable being the beautiful woman we all know she is" Nat winked at me. "With Alex's help we'll do the same to you, you're a delicious, sexy and beautiful woman, we just want you to see yourself the way we see you"

"I can't be like you and Maura and Alex, that's not me"

"And we don't want you to be someone you're not…" She ran a set of knowing eyes over me, a speculative look appearing. "Mind you, I think you'd rock a set of heels and a tailored pencil skirt suit…yeah, that'd be hot" She shook her head and pushed on. "Anyway, we don't want to make you something you're not really, just be more comfortable in your own skin with the people who love you"

"That's something that's going to take time, lots of it"

"I get that, though probably a lot less than you think" She smiled softly. "We're all pretty uninhibited, mostly because we trust each other"

"Yeah, I was surprised about Jane; I mean she was nothing like the woman we knew back in Boston"

"Sure, and I get that, but she was dealing with all kinds of crap, from her boss, the other cops she worked with, her family from coming out, she was still coming to terms with who she was, none of which applies here" She shook her head slowly. "Here she's a beautiful woman in love with another beautiful woman, no one cares about that, she's a valued member of Major Crimes and appreciated for what she brings to the team, no one gives a damn who she's sleeping with, plus she's got friends who love her like family and who have her back in everything"

"I suppose, she was just so different…"

"Part of that's Club Night, we put on a persona, be who we're not usually, last night was us playing at being hot sexy bitches, tomorrow we go back to who the rest of the world sees us as, lawyers and cops and stuff. Jane was just getting into the spirit of it, same and you and Al did" She shrugged. "It's also a hell of a confidence boost to have so many beautiful women coming on to you" I remembered something similar Ana and Jane had said last night before we left as Natalie continued. "I saw them all lusting after you, it was obvious as hell, but they were all going home disappointed, you belong to Alex and her to you" I nodded a little at that truth then grimaced.

"I was a bit uncomfortable; I mean the stuff I was wearing…" She suddenly grinned.

"Are you kidding, you looked amazing, there wasn't a dry set of panties in the club last night when you walked in, every hot little girl there took one look at you and started drooling like Pavlov's dogs" She smiled wickedly. "And every last one was going to be so disappointed, because you belonged to Alex and she to you, and Alex knew it"

"I guess" She looked me in the eye and smiled softly before she spoke.

"Honestly Liv, everything we did last night, in the club and back here is because you're the most important people in the world to us. We want to share the best of times with you and Alex and Maura and Jane" She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and continued. "That's why, in its own way, the aftermath is just as important as the night out" She smiled, a little reflectively as she continued. "We get to hear you at your most intimate and loving, and you hear us too" Her smile changed to a smirk. "I know you heard what I was saying, well screaming actually last night, Tsarina's always been good at making me go nuts" She gave a small, one-shoulder shrug. "Same with Maura and Jane"

"Yeah, doesn't it…well bother you…the stuff we heard, I mean you…?" She shook her head.

Look Liv, it's not about making you feel bad, quite the contrary, we love you both dearly and we want you to be as comfortable as possible with us" She shrugged. "If that means you hear a little more about some of our kinks, so be it" Her smile turned a little wicked. "Besides, we get to hear yours and it seems like you know exactly what Alex needs" She winked. "She's obviously got you well trained" Offended somehow, I shot back at her.

"Who says it wasn't the other way round?" Nat shrugged dismissively.

"Alex Cabot never settles for anything less than the best, in clothes, in court or in the bedroom" She said, retrieving her coffee from the bench top and lifting her cup in salute. "Here's to being the best" I decided to ignore her teasing in favour of sipping the nectar of the gods in my cup, slowly feeling myself start to wake up. I guess I just needed to have a talk to Alex about it, I suppose if she was okay, I could handle it to, after all, it had been one hell of a night and Nat was right, they were our best, closest friends…speaking of which Natalie was leaning back against the bench, sipping her coffee before looking over at me again.

"Besides, we might tease each other about it sometimes, but it's just between us, another thing we share with the people we love"

Before I could respond there was a chirpy "Good morning" from the doorway, both of us turning to take in Maura standing there, like us she was wearing what was obviously this morning's uniform, a fluffy white bathrobe, her feet bare and her hair at least partially brushed out, looking very relaxed. With a click of claws on the floor Jo wandered past her and straight out the open door to the back yard, probably looking for a tree. Maura took us in and smiled, a little slyly.

"May I take this opportunity to compliment you Olivia, it would seem that you rendered the normally loquacious Alex Cabot almost incoherent; in fact while I note that she was quite…aggressively vocal in her demands early on in the evening, towards the latter hours of this morning you had reduced her to little more than screams and moans" Her smile widened to a wicked smirk. "Well done"

I just groaned and looked down into my coffee as they both trilled with laughter.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N** Hi guys, yep, I'm back. It's been a while but I've been busy.

First things first; thank you to everyone who took the time to message me with good wishes; it was very much appreciated during a time when I needed it.

The next thing is that you should go back and read Chapter 27, my previous placeholder note in that chapter has been replaced with a proper chapter, so head on back there now and read it, I'll wait right here until you get back. Go on, it's okay…I'm not going anywhere.

Ah, welcome back.

The next thing you may need to know is that I've spit off the trial of the Witsec case into its own stand-alone story, if you check my profile, look for Intersecting Lines: The Trial. It's up and complete. I split it off because at 18 chapters and over 120,000 words it would have taken up way too much of Book 3, chapters I will need to tell this story properly. I'd ask you to read it if you haven't seen it yet, it's got a lot in it, some of which will play a part later in this book, plus it has an absolute butt load of cameos, all leading into the back half of this book.

Thanks for your patience as I get back into this story, sorry for the delay but I'm pushing forward with what I hope is a story you enjoy.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **28 Revelations**

Jane's viewpoint

The scene was even worse than the others; the gutted body of a middle-aged woman was by now almost a brutally gruesome normality, what wasn't normal was the second body of a younger guy, maybe mid-40s, a little overweight, lying nearby. Compared to the body we'd tagged as the initial victim, this one was nowhere near as messy; three stab wounds to the chest, any one of which would have been quickly fatal with one right over the heart which to my eye looked like it had been the immediately killing blow. Normally that would be bad enough, but at least this vic was in one piece, exactly how and why he'd come to be here was what we needed to find out.

Brenda and Sharon arrived together; a small but welcome advantage of them working a joint case, when one arrived on scene the other was there as well. They took in the scene and Sharon asked the first question.

"Well detectives, what happened here that was so very different from the usual?" I glanced at the others and Jefferies took the lead.

"Near as we can figure out so far the second vic, tentatively identified as the female victim's son, walked in on the assailant carving his mother up, he shouted, there was a struggle and the son was stabbed several times. The neighbours heard the disturbance, raised the alarm and the assailant fled the scene" Sharon nodded and asked the obvious follow up.

"Did anyone get a look at the suspect?" That was my cue.

"The only witness saw a male, well they thought it was a male, probably, probably medium build, probably medium height, definitely dark hair, could have been Caucasian, maybe, flee down the fire escape, dressed in a grey hoodie and jeans" I shrugged. "We're pretty sure it was our suspect, witness saw them leaving in a big hurry, the hood had fallen back, exposing the hair" I looked up from my notes and took both Sharon and Brenda in. "The kicker is, he, if it was a he, was carrying a cooler box" Brenda nodded at that as she looked round the room, then spoke.

"They obviously left in a hurry, people who do that usually make mistakes; I'd like to get a full forensics workup on the fire escape's doors and handrails as soon as possible please" I nodded, seeing several others do the same. She looked to Sharon and they exchanged a glance before Sharon took up the questioning.

"Would someone please walk us through what transpired here" Jefferies nodded and started talking.

"At approximately 7.50 this evening the male victim, identified from his wallet as Colin Ferrell, likely the son of our first victim given the likely age and the same surname; arrived and it appears he used his own key to open the door to the apartment. We believe that he disturbed the attacker and a struggle ensued, resulting in the victim being stabbed several times. The noise of the fight and the second victim's screams alerted the neighbours, one of whom called 911, another looked out the door and saw the suspect fleeing like Rizzoli said"

Brenda looked around the group and then spoke.

"That is the first decent lead we've had drop people; we need to work it hard" She pursed her lips in thought for a moment then continued. "I can't imagine our suspect used public transport, all things considered, so we need to check any streets in the area, any parking areas, look for any camera's that might cover the area, any shops that might have spotted our assailant, you know the drills everyone, we have a description" She glanced my way and shook her head. "Well the beginnings of one anyway, we just have to work with it and see if we can expand it" She glanced at Sharon who nodded.

"Check with Uber and the other rideshares, taxi companies and the hire car companies; find out if any of them picked up a customer in the vicinity within our timeframe" Sharon shrugged then continued. "Highly unlikely I know but it is worth a shot" She turned to Jefferies. "Lieutenant Jefferies, could you and Lieutenant Flynn take charge of the canvas once we are finished here; call in additional uniformed officers as necessary, but we need to flood the area before too much time passes" Sharon got a series of nods before turning back to Jefferies. "Please continue Lieutenant" Jefferies nodded and consulted her notes before doing so.

"The first victim is Alison Ferrell, the resident here. Based on age and some of the pictures up on the wall, it sure looks like the female vic is Mister Ferrell's mother" I nodded at that, having seen a photo showing the now-deceased male standing behind Mrs Ferrell, arms around her as they smiled for the camera. Brenda looked back from where she'd scanned both victims.

"I see both have wedding rings, do we know where her husband and his wife are?" she asked, getting a response from Sanchez.

"A quick check suggests the vic's husband is deceased ma'am" He checked his notebook. "The male victim is listed as living over in Perris, Kahn and Sykes are on their way over to there now" He looked up. "With both teams on this we have the resources and it seemed like a good way to save time" Sharon exchanged another glance with Brenda then nodded.

"Good thinking Sergeant, I'd like to know what brought Mister Ferrell out here tonight of all nights" Brenda nodded.

"Hopefully Kahn and Sykes will be able to answer that soon enough" It was an interesting pairing I thought, but with Mendoza on protection duty in court Khan was running solo, so it was good of Sykes to ride with him, she seemed to have good instincts, even if she seemed a bit hustling, as if she was trying to prove to Sharon she was worthy of being on her team.

"They're already talking to Riverside County Sheriff's Department ma'am" Sanchez stated. "It's their turf so they're meeting up with some Deputies to conduct the interview with the wife" Sharon nodded.

"Good work Sergeant" She exchanged a quick wordless conversation with Brenda before she started detailing us off, I got the job of tracking down her employer and finding out if this either tied in to the other killings that way, or if there was something else that might link them together.

There was movement at the door as Maura walked in, booties over her heels and wearing blue gloves, followed by her team. She'd been working back doing prep work for her trial appearance when the call came in, so she'd ridden in with her team. She made her way over to where Sharon and Brenda were as they greeted her, exchanging a few words before she made her way across to the male victim's body and, fishing out a small LED torch from her bag, commenced examining the body.

Buzz was working his way round the room, filming everything as usual as I exchanged some words with Riggs from Sharon's team, comparing thoughts on the scene when I heard a low gasp which caught my attention, but not as much as what followed.

"Oh my god" At Maura's stricken words I turned to see her crouched there, the blood draining from her face and the shock on her face had me moving to her instantly, kneeling by her side.

"What's up, Maur, what's the matter" For a second I couldn't reach her, she'd turned inwards, then I saw her come back to me, her eyes focussing on me.

"Jane, oh Jane, what have I done?" It was the deep despair in her voice that shocked me, this was Maura, the woman was poise personified, at least when she was amongst others, only our friends got to see her without the mask and I was the only one she was completely unguarded with; to see her so lost was almost frightening.

"What, what's happened Maura?" I ducked my head to look into her hazel eyes, seeing the fear and doubt swimming in them. "What's the matter?" She looked up at me as I realised that the entire room had stilled, everyone here was staring at Maura, worry and concern on every face. For a second she was oblivious then came back to me, resolve settling across her face, her voice suddenly crisp, determined even as she stood in a single fluid move.

"I must return to the morgue immediately" I reared back, the morgue…

"You sure Maur…?" She nodded then turned to look up at Brenda standing there.

"Chief Johnson, I must return to the morgue immediately, I believe that I have missed something critical to this case" I saw Brenda's eyes widen; the same as mine did, Maura never missed anything, for her to think she had…

"Of course Doctor, how urgently do you need to get there?" Maura stood, determination in every line of her face, her voice brooking no argument.

"Immediately" Brenda took one look at Maura's face, glanced at Sharon who was standing nearby, like Brenda her face showing barely-hidden concern then turned back and nodded.

"Of course" She looked at me. "Sergeant Rizzoli, transport Doctor Isles back to the morgue immediately, anything the Doctor needs, make it happen" I nodded.

"Yes Chief" Maura had turned to her team leader.

"Please finish up processing the victims and transport both of the victim's to the morgue as quickly as possible, I will meet you there upon your return" Obviously puzzled and a little concerned he quickly nodded.

"Yes Doctor" At his response she nodded and turned to me.

"We should go" I watched as she turned and strode towards the door, bag in hand, seeing the surprise and concern in everyone's faces. Provenza looked at me, a question obvious in his face then spoke.

"Well don't just stand there Rizzoli, get moving" I nodded and took off after her.

Fifteen minutes later, courtesy of a balls-to-the-wall, lights and sirens run back to the Parker Centre I watched as Maura strode in the front door, she'd barely said anything the whole way, when we'd first got into my unmarked she'd belted up then turned to me and spoken.

"As soon as at all possible please Jane"

I watched her go, then parked the unmarked and made a bee line for the morgue, arriving to find it a scene of controlled chaos, something that NEVER happened in Maura's morgue, with people moving bodies around and running in and out to retrieve files. There were two bodies on the centre tables; the two most recent Muti murder victims, as Maura moved back and forth from one to the other, she'd already gloved and gowned up and had re-opened the Y incisions on both vics, now she was poking around inside, a large, illuminated magnifying glass in on hand as she leaned in, LED torch in her other hand as she minutely examined the inner recesses of each body's stomach wounds.

For almost ten minutes she moved back and forward between the bodies and the photos contained within her autopsy and crime scene reports, becoming more agitated as she did as I watched in mounting concern. She'd ignored my attempts to learn what had set her off and was making her so upset, instead shaking her head tightly and continuing on, her face becoming grimmer as I wondered what the hell I was watching. Finally she looked up and spoke; her voice harsh.

"Please call Chief Johnson and Commander Raydor and ask them to join us here as soon as possible" I tipped my head to regard her. Before I could ask anything she spoke again, her tone brooking no argument. "Now Jane" I nodded and pulled out my cell, ringing Brenda and passing on Maura's request and being told that they'd leave immediately, when Maura was so direct, so out of character, people responded. Ending the call, I looked back at her, seeing the tension and stress in her posture and face.

"They're leaving now, baby…what's up, what's happened" She shook her head sadly.

"Jane, I've made a terrible error" I took a step towards her, my hand coming up automatically.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She shook her head and then took two steps back.

"Please give me some time Jane, I need some time alone" She looked at me and shook her head once. "Please let me know when they arrive" Puzzled I took another step forward, stopping when she raised her hand.

"Why, where will you be?" I got a forlorn look, one that cut me to the core.

"Drafting my resignation"

With that she turned and walked away, walking into her office and closing the door behind her as I stood there, dumbfounded. Not much more than twenty minutes later Brenda and Sharon arrived; they'd obviously not wasted any time, to find me waiting for them.

"What's going on Jane" Brenda asked. I shook my head sadly.

"I don't know but it's shaken her badly, she's really rattled, said something about making a mistake and resigning" The look of shock on her face was matched by the one on Sharon's, then replaced by resolve from both of them.

"Like hell she is" Brenda said, backed up by Sharon.

"Not on my watch" I nodded and made my way over to the door of Maura's office and knocked.

"Maura, they're here" A few seconds later the door opened and she stood there, her face rigidly composed, though I could see hints she'd been crying, though she'd managed to cover most of them up with makeup. She looked up at me and nodded.

"Thank you Jane: She gave me a wan smile and walked past.

"Chief Johnson, Commander Raydor, I regret to inform you that a key piece of evidence was missed by myself whilst previously examining the victims, an inexcusable lapse on my part and one for which I can but offer my heartfelt apologies" I saw Brenda and Sharon exchange a glance then look back to her.

"What exactly was missed Maura?" asked Sharon.

"The victims were killed by a very slender, extremely sharp-bladed object, one that appears, based on the forensic evidence, to have been a scalpel-like blade" I nodded, seeing the others do the same. "My examination during previous autopsy's suggested that the organs were then removed by another knife, one with a serrated edge" There was a round of nods at that as she continued. "Tonight's initial victim was killed the same way as the others, using a similar, almost certainly scalpel-like blade. The initial incision into the torso was made with a serrated-edge blade as per the previous victims, however the removal of the liver was undertaken with an extremely sharp blade, again almost certainly a scalpel" I tipped my head at that…my mind already racing ahead even as Maura continued.

"My initial autopsy findings suggested that the organs were removed with the use of a serrated edge blade" I nodded, seeing the others do the same. "Based on the evidence from tonight's victim it would appear that conclusion was erroneous" she said, regret in her voice even as her posture remained rigid.

"In what way erroneous Maura?" It was Brenda. Maura looked at her and replied.

"The organs removed from the victim tonight were not undertaken using a serrated edge blade. In fact they were very carefully, even skilfully, removed using a scalpel-like blade" She looked to one of the corpses on the table nearby and paused, then rallied. "If so perhaps the same was true of the previous victims and I missed the evidence. I have examined both of the bodies we still have here and have confirmed that there is evidence of very careful removal of at least one organ in each case" Sharon exchanged a glance with Brenda, nodded and spoke.

"The serrated-edge blade…?" Maura's reply was straight to the point.

"The evidence would suggest that the damage done to the organs in the previous victims using the serrated edge blade was done to cover the fact that at least one of the organs was carefully removed" I nodded and spoke up.

"They removed the organs then messed up the evidence by hacking up the wound site" Maura spared me a glance at my quick and dirty summary and nodded once.

"In essence yes, that is correct There was silence for a few seconds as we each considered what she'd told us, I could see we were all mentally junking the black magic aspect, this was too specific, too…clinical. I had my suspicions and I was sure the others did too but Sharon crystalised them.

"Can you suggest a reason for the removal of the organs Doctor?" Maura nodded and looked to her.

"I have reviewed my notes, tonight's female victim, the bodies of the victims here and my notes on the previous victim; one removed organ is common to each victim, the liver"

"Is that of particular note for any reason?" At Brenda's question Maura tipped her head to regard her as she spoke.

"The number of organ donors in the United States is large, but not enough to keep up with demand, thus there is a waiting list for transplant donors. This is particularly true for organs where the donor must be deceased. Unlike the kidney where the donor can donate one organ and live a normal and fulfilling life post-donation, certain organs such as the heart can only be donated post mortem" She looked from Brenda to Sharon to me then back again. "The liver is also such an organ"

"You suspect these people were killed for their liver for donation purposes?" Sharon asked as Brenda nodded in agreement.

"The liver from tonight's victim was very carefully removed, demonstrating a level of skill and knowledge that suggests the assailant had experience in the appropriate surgical procedures to do so; the incisions to remove the organ were made at points that allowed for sufficient tissue at each of the key points to support a transplant into a recipient patient"

"Wouldn't there be a need for some kind of tissue matching though?" I grimaced; trying to remember stuff I'd seen and read over the years, off the news mostly. "Aren't there issues with the transplant if it isn't compatible?" Maura looked to me and nodded.

"Indeed, without careful tissue matching the chance of the recipient rejecting the transplanted organ is quite high, even with a regime of immune-suppressant drugs to assist the body in accepting the transplanted organ" There was silence for a few seconds before Brenda put it into words.

"So organ harvesting from unwilling donors, I'd heard stories, most of which sounded like urban legends, plus some stories out of China claiming forced harvesting from prisoners, but I'm not aware of it being a thing here in the States?" Brenda pursed her lips and looked to Maura before continuing. "Are you aware of it happening here?" Maura shook her head once.

"Not that I am personally aware of, however given the imbalance between supply and demand, it is not impossible to contemplate a rich patient paying to obtain one" She looked between the three of us. "I am more concerned that a surgeon is willing to ignore their Hippocratic Oath, to kill someone to harvest an organ stands opposed to the Oath's prime tenant which is, of course, first, do no harm"

Brenda and Sharon stood there, both in obvious deep thought before they looked up and did that talking without words thing they sometimes did before looking back at us.

"We will refocus the investigation first thing in the morning, there's no harm in continuing the gathering of evidence based on the previous leads and it might help us either way" Sharon nodded at Brenda's comment before adding her own.

"This gives us a new and potentially much more promising line of investigation" They nodded before Brenda turned to Maura and raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

"Now what's this silly nonsense about you resigning?" Maura suddenly stiffened, shooting me a glance before looking back to Brenda.

"I feel it is only appropriate, my errors in conducting the previous autopsy's led your investigation down an erroneous path, one that would likely have led to the killer's actions going undetected and markedly hindering your investigations" She stood a little straighter. "Given my unfortunate mistake, it would be inappropriate for me to continue to hold the position I do" Brenda's response was unequivocal.

"No way am I going to let you fall on your sword because of missing something tiny" As Maura went to say something she held her hand up and pressed on. "Everyone makes mistakes, we're human after all, but you immediately checked the moment you had an inkling that something was wrong, and reported it immediately" Sharon nodded.

"Indeed, to err is human, we know and accept that. You advised us the moment you became aware of the error, now we have a completely new set of avenues to explore" Maura paused then spoke.

"I am concerned that this unforgivable lapse on my part may undermine the reputation of the exemplary team that I have been fortunate enough to lead" Sharon wasn't wearing that for a moment.

"I don't think that's how they'd see it; or anyone else either. In fact I bet if I asked them, they'd be even more appreciative of the fact that you made a mistake, discovered it and how you dealt with it" I shrugged and jumped in

"It proves you're human, you do occasionally make mistakes like the rest of us ordinary people" Before Maura could say something Brenda nodded and interjected.

"Yeah, a textbook case of dealing with the discovery of an error" She looked at Sharon, her voice suddenly formal. "Commander Raydor, as the next most senior investigating officer on this case, do you see any issue with Doctor Isle's handling of this situation?" Sharon shook her head, her voice equally formal.

"Not at all Chief Johnson, I believe that while a potential avenue of investigation was initially missed, that error has been identified and brought to our attention" She glanced at Maura then back at Brenda. "I believe that the issue has been handled appropriately by Doctor Isles and that no further censure is either needed or required"

I could see Maura's face freeze, she was probably caught between relief, regret and shame; seeing that I took the spotlight off her.

"Where do we go from here?" Brenda nodded,

"Good question" She looked to Maura. "What should we be looking for?" Caught off guard by the question, and probably by the trust contained with it, Maura paused for a moment, thinking hard then looked over at Brenda and replied.

"If the livers of the victims are indeed being harvested for organ transplant, you will need to focus your investigation on to surgeons here in Los Angeles who specialise in that specific field" Sharon nodded at that and spoke up.

"You'd say we're looking at the surgery happening here then, not in another city or even overseas?" Maura shook her head once, decisively, as she spoke; her words slow as she thought it through.

"I would say that is unlikely, transporting organs requires it to be done under the strictest conditions of speed and clinical hygiene and requires significant regulatory paperwork to pass through customs, likely ruling out air travel, thus it is unlikely to have taken more than an hour or two's distance by road from the site of the attack" Maura paused in thought then continued, a little faster. "The surgery is unlikely to have occurred at a major hospital given the number of checks and balances in place, though naturally I would not presume to tell you how to conduct your investigation" Sharon shook her head.

"On the contrary, you're our subject matter expert, I'll take any leads you can give me" Maura smiled, just a little at Sharon's words, then a little wider as Brenda chimed in.

"Given how much your advice and skills have helped close other cases, I'll happily take and advice you can give" Maura looked to me and I smiled and gave a single slow nod, letting her know what I thought; she had this covered.

"Thank you, your understanding and support are both very, very welcome" She took a breath then continued. "I would suggest that smaller, private hospitals and clinics would be your most likely option, small enough to avoid excessive scrutiny, large enough to process a number of liver patients" She pulled a face. "We are looking for a facility that undertakes at least one or two transplant procedures a week, which requires matching a donor with a recipient, locating the unwilling donor and then scheduling the transplant. That suggests an already existing system in place to handle such details, the most likely facilities to have all the elements in place are clinics and smaller hospitals that specialise in such procedures" We all nodded, it gave us a new series of leads to run down.

"That's excellent Doctor, thank you" Brenda nodded at Sharon's comment then looked to Maura.

"I do however have one additional comment to make regarding your so-called 'error'…" Maura looked up at Brenda's words, seeing Brenda watching her calmly. "I disagree with my colleague that no further censure is appropriate" Maura nodded and stood a little straighter.

"Of course Chief" I had an inkling of where Brenda was going with this but Maura obviously expected the worst. Brenda let a small smile escape.

"Therefore I'm letting you know that you're buying drinks this Friday for the teams at O'Malley's" She smiled a little wider. "Do that and I'll consider your apology paid in full" Maura nodded and smiled, obviously relieved, glancing at me as I gave her a smile and a wink. She looked back at Brenda and Sharon and nodded once.

"Thank you Chief"


	29. Chapter 29

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **29 Canvassing Options**

Brenda's viewpoint

It was Friday afternoon and we were sitting in my office, Sharon and I, going over the details of the 'organ legging case' as everyone was now calling it; 'black magic murders', the case's previous nickname being junked once the news of the investigation's new focus was explained to the teams. Everyone was actually happier with the new direction; much to Maura's barely concealed relief.

The truth was organ harvesting, despicable as it was, meant whoever was doing it had motives that were decipherable, they had criteria for their unfortunate victims and that meant there were lines of investigation to be run down, whereas chasing lunatics killing people for their organs for black magic ceremonies on the other hand was just way too much unpredictable for any of our detective's taste. I looked over at Sharon, seeing her flipping through the latest witness reports from the combined team after the most recent attack and spoke up.

"How's the canvas on hospitals and clinics going?" Looking up, Sharon put the folder to one side and opened her iPad, pulling up the document she was after, speaking out loud as she scrolled through it.

"If we discount the major transplant hospitals, based on Maura's assessment that their safeguards would catch any undocumented transplants, we've found that there are eleven private hospitals and clinics that claim to be able to do liver transplants" I frowned, _eleven…damn_. Something I put into words.

"Eleven's not terribly helpful, that's actually a lot more than I expected to be honest" I said as Sharon glanced up then nodded in understanding.

"Not all of them are current apparently, some may only do a few a year while others do several a week but we'll have to check them all out" she said as I nodded then continued on. "It would seem that there's lots of demand, given LA has a lot of older, richer people" she stated, drawing a snort from me; that made plenty of sense, unfortunately, as I surmised aloud.

"Meaning people who are old enough to have organ's failing and the money to pay for a transplant" Sharon smiled happily at me.

"Exactly, so we're going to have to find a way to narrow the number down" She consulted her tablet for a moment. "Just counting those eleven, we're looking at well over one hundred and sixty doctors who are listed as qualified to undertake liver transplants, though some of the names look like they're common to multiple hospitals" At that I closed my eyes in thought for a while, Sharon giving me time to think as I considered the information we'd deduced on our suspect, as sketchy as it was, then opened them.

"Maybe, if we can discount any female doctors or males over 60 that could reduce the numbers a bit" I shrugged, every little bit helped. "After that we go looking for right handers" I grimaced. "Though I'm not sure exactly how we do that without attracting suspicion"

"Well it's a stronger lead than we had before the last attack I guess" Sharon stated. "We've got nothing from the canvas of hire cars, taxis and Ubers, and nothing from the surveillance videos of local car parks" I nodded, that had been a bit of a faint hope but cases had broken for less. Traffic cameras hadn't spotted anything either, far too many vehicles in and out of the area during the time window we were looking at.

"I know, he has to be coming and going somehow, maybe an accomplice is waiting and collects him after the attack?" Before Sharon could answer there was a knock on the door, it was Jane who I waved in. Typically she didn't beat around the bush, coming straight to the point.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Khan's finished the check of all the donor databases and none of our vic's were listed" She shrugged and took another step inside. "I also went back and checked, none of them were carrying donor cards either" I frowned.

"So much for that angle" Taking in Jane's expectant expression I asked the question. "Was there something else Detective?" Jane nodded.

"Yeah, something was bothering me about the whole organ donor thing, so I went and had a chat to Maura about it and she gave me a better perspective about what we're dealing with here." She took the chair I indicated with a wave, nodding in appreciation as she did then continuing as Sharon and I gave her our attention, when someone of Jane's experience and instincts had a theory it was usually well worth hearing.

"I was thinking about the whole compatibility thing again; I mean I'm no expert but even I'd heard that you had to get a close match between the person donating and the person getting the organ" She shrugged. "Maura told me that even with all the drugs they take to stop the donor's body rejecting the new organ, it's still important to have as close a tissue match-up as possible" Both Sharon and I nodded as she pressed on. "That got me thinking about it and I started wondering how someone was getting these women in and to sit still for a test to determine their tissue compatibility to be an unwilling donor" At Jane's comment we both got far away looks for a moment before Sharon spoke slowly.

"It would have to be a medical procedure, carried out at a medical facility of some kind" Both Jane and I nodded before I took up the thread.

"One where our victim's attended for an exam" I looked to Jane, taking in her smile. "I know you; you're already looking aren't you?" Jane nodded and flashed me that cheeky grin.

"Yeah, I've got Kahn going through the vic's financials, looking for medical bills that would point us in the right direction" Sharon nodded decisively.

"Then let us go and see what Detective Kahn has turned up" A minute later we were hearing the bad news direct from him.

"I am sorry Chief, Commander, but none of the victim's has any costs associated with a medical consultation, of any kind that I can see, not in the last six months" We all pulled faces before Sharon looked to me, a light had come on in her eyes, she looked back to Kahn.

"None at all?" He shook his head.

"No Commander, none whatsoever, in fact given the financial state of all three of our victim's, none of them were in a position to afford expensive medical procedures"

As Sharon nodded at his words that got me thinking, unable to afford medical treatment but somehow a doctor got to see them, see them well enough to arrange a tissue compatibility test… I looked to Sharon and smiled, I was now thinking along the same lines she was.

"So they went somewhere free" She nodded with a smile and looked to Jane.

"Detective Rizzoli, please look into any medical facilities associated with our deceased, did their employers provide access to medical treatment" Jane shook her head.

"Maybe, though given three out of the four employers were small businesses and not big corps probably not; though we can look into that, but on the other hand all lived in roughly the same generally lower socio-economic area of Los Angeles, none of them were from affluent areas, so maybe there was a community clinic that they all visited" She'd ended up at the same place Sharon and I had as I nodded slowly, it made sense to all three of us which made it something well worth looking into, if nothing else it was a lead worth chasing.

"Please arrange a canvass of clinics and the like in the area, particularly looking at whether any of the hospitals and clinics that do liver transplants are located in the area and run free medical facilities" I got a nod.

"On it" She turned away, then turned back, "With Liv and Mikki away at the trial, we're kinda light on, can we call in some of the Robbery Homicide team?" I exchanged a glance with Sharon who nodded and reached for her phone, I'd assigned Miki and Olivia to security for Alex and Andrea for the trial, taking them off the case for something equally important; while it was unlikely their lives were in danger, I wasn't taking any chances when their lovers were prosecuting someone as ruthless as the Witsec Case's corrupt cops, after all they'd come after us when we were investigating them so better safe than sorry.

"I'll call Jefferies and Riggs up here right away" Sharon said, getting a grateful nod and a smile from Jane before she turned away and called for Flynn and Provenza as Sharon and I exchanged a smile.

It wasn't much but it was a lead and that was more than we'd had five minutes ago.

Given it was a Friday that meant our semi-regular evening drinks at O'Malley's, our local cop bar, normally in the aftermath of a big case closing, but other times too, this being one of them. In this case we'd been joined by Robbery / Homicide, in part because of Maura's undertaking to buy both teams drinks, her 'penalty' for getting her preliminary findings wrong.

Another reason many of us appreciated the chance to unwind was that this week had turned out to be horrible. The trial of those corrupt Robbery-Homicide detectives had descended into a travesty which gave every appearance of being an appalling witch hunt, the Defence in the WitSec case had already started attacking us all for being lesbians and the presiding judge was being a bigoted fossil, letting them get away with it. Alex and Andrea were coldly angry at the proceedings; despite their best efforts our names were being smeared in court and I had to say I was not looking forward to being called to testify next week; it had all the hallmarks of a court-sanctioned hit and run smear job.

Sharon and I had discussed it and come to the conclusion there was little we could do besides try and ride it out, hoping that Andrea and Alex could get the most objectionable tactics of the Defence ruled out of order. It was a faint hope but really it was all we had.

Collecting another wine from the bar for Sharon I turned and looked for her, noticing as I did that some California Highway Patrol cop was being a bit too attentive to Maura off to one side, I frowned a bit, we didn't usually see CHiPs here, this wasn't really their turf downtown, as I saw him crowding her space, a bit of a come-on smile on his face. I was about to head that way when I saw Jane making her way through the Friday night crowd like a shark through a school of fish, people getting out of her way when they saw the expression on her face. It looked like the situation was about to be sorted so I made my way back over to our table, handing over her red as I sat down.

"Thanks honey" I shared a smile with her and went to put my purse back in my bag when I I heard Sharon speak again "Uh oh"

Surprised I looked up to see her staring past me, raising an eyebrow I looked round, what had bothered her wasn't hard to see. The original CHiP that had been crowding Maura had been joined by two more, while Jane was standing between them and Maura, hands on her hips, a pissed expression on her face and a concerned one on Maura's. I wasn't the only one to see it either. Between the increasingly tense tableau and our table I saw Liv and Ana exchange a glance and rise as one, just like lions on the Serengeti spotting a meal, something I'd seen in a Discovery Channel documentary once, before making their way over there. They weren't the only one's either, Sanchez and Mendoza were following in their wake. Sharon's voice came to me, an undertone of humour evident.

"You'd better get over there honey, before we end up with an inter-agency mess and you have to explain to Commissioner Stanley why three of his officers got broken in a LAPD cop bar" I shook my head.

"Pope would just love that" I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Good point" I stood and made my way over towards the group as other cops standing around watched quietly. As I got closer I could hear the middle CHiP speaking.

"The LAPD's really gone to the dykes if they're letting a rug-muncher like you in" I felt my jaw tighten, more homophobic stupidity, even as Jane spoke.

"If that juvenile word play's the best you can come up with, I'm not surprised you ended up with the Chips, rather than a real police force" That was Jane, she was a firm believer in the concept of the best defence being a good offence, no matter who might take offence.

"Tough words dyke" I frowned, that Highway Patrol sergeant didn't know it but he was prodding a tiger with a stick, nothing good was going to come of it.

"You're about three sentences from having a 'dyke' leave you a bleeding wreck" Her voice a low growl, Jane shook her head which I noticed was lowered, she was almost looking up at the CHiP, not a good sign, at all. "Maybe you should get out of here before I teach you some manners about not hassling an engaged woman" The middle CHiP, the one wearing Sergeant's stripes, threw Maura an appraising glance.

"You worried she might wake up to what she's missing and leave you for a real man?"

"I can assure you that is not happening" Maura stated unequivocally as Jane snapped her fingers loudly and called to the three CHiP's who were rather obviously looking Maura over.

"Hey, eyes over here, I'm talking to you, learn some manners" The three cops ran their eyes over the tense woman in front of them.

"You! Maybe it's you who'll learn something, like why girlies shouldn't play at being the tough guy, leave that to the actual guys" The razor smile I saw on Jane's face was something feral, dangerous, before I saw Ana and Liv move forward to take spots each side of Jane.

"Maybe you and your friends should take a step back and calm down, maybe go back to your table, finish your drinks and go home" Liv was trying to play peacemaker

"Or not, either way suits" Ana stated, obviously happy either way, as I recalled the stories I'd heard about her and Jane sparring , apparently they were very good, good enough most officers didn't go up against them twice.

"These your girlfriends bitch?" Liv smiled, tight and controlled.

"Partners" she corrected, while Ana was a little more direct, her smirk a cool, dangerous thing.

"We don't want to hurt you, but we will" Jane nodded, her smile turning into a mocking grin.

"Three versus three boys, your choice, walk away or get hurt" The CHiP in the middle looked from one to the other of the three beautiful women in front of him then spoke.

"Don't tell me you're all lesbo's, what a fucking waste" Before Jane and the others could reply another voice was heard from off to the left.

"No we're not, some of us just have a really low tolerance for assholes" The first CHiP, I could see his name badge said Cormann, turned to find Kyra Jefferies and Amy Sykes from Sharon's team standing there, hands on hips and arms crossed respectively, neither of them looked happy. Jefferies pushed on. "Tell you what, you stop hassling our people for being gay and we'll stop hassling you for being a fucking douche bag" Mikki nodded from one side and spoke up.

"What's it gonna be boys, you demonstrate some manners or do we have to teach you some?" I could see that Cormann was belligerent, even if his partners were looking embarrassed, they'd probably stepped in to back up their friend, only to realise they may have stepped in it, deep. Cormann looked around the group.

""What, it takes a pile of you to take on some real men?"

"Sergeant…Cormann is it?" I said, he turned to the female voice over his shoulder, taking in me standing there before replying, a little truculently.

"Yeah…and who the hell are you?" I smiled politely.

"Deputy Chief Johnson of the LAPD's Major Crimes section" Cormann's face tightened as he realised he'd probably bought himself a world of trouble. He nodded as his two cohorts did the same.

"Chief Johnson" I took a step closer as I spoke.

"I understand that this is not your usual Friday night drinking establishment, but here at O'Malley's we have a few rules, one of which is don't hit on your female colleagues. That's unprofessional at the least and given we have several couples here tonight, as you've discovered, potentially hazardous to your health" I glanced from Maura to Jane, then back to him. "I have no doubt that Doctor Isles explained that she was engaged and was not interested, it appears you don't know when to leave well enough alone" I frowned. "Let alone hitting on a woman who is not interested in your attentions" Cormann's denial was instant.

"It wasn't like that, at all" I shrugged.

"I know Doctor Isles, I also know Sargent Rizzoli, and both would have made their relationship very clear to you from the outset, something you obviously ignored" I shook my head. "I therefore suggest that you return to your colleagues and enjoy your evening, undisturbed"

"I wasn't doing anything wrong…" I shook my head; he wasn't getting it, time to explain the situation.

Sergeant, you misunderstand me, the advice was for your benefit, as I have no desire to have this evening ruined by the attendance of EMT's" He shook his head as he spoke.

"Typical, you women all hang together" I smiled as I spoke.

"I assure you Sergeant, the only reason that the male members of our teams are not involved is that they are well aware that their presence is not needed, these officers are more than capable of handling the situation" He doubled down on the stupid.

"And yet you're here"

"I am here for your benefit Sergeant" I shrugged blithely. "I don't wish to have to call Commissioner Stanley to explain that one of his officers provoked a fight in a downtown LA bar and required hospitalisation, as did his friends" I smiled nicely. "That would create unnecessary paperwork and my team can attest how adverse I am to that, so you can return to your table, enjoy a pleasant, quiet and undisturbed night, or I will turn and walk away and deal with any consequences tomorrow morning" I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "Your choice Sergeant, choose wisely"

Cormann's eyes shifted from me to the others, taking in the relaxed stances of Jane and the others then came back to me. He went to say something when his cell phone went off. He pulled it out and glanced at the number and frowned, shaking his head he cancelled the call and looked back to me.

"Look Chief, it was your people that started it, not me…" His cell rang again and he checked the number, frowning and answered it.

"Cormann, who is this?" He straightened suddenly, his eyes darting around. "Yeah…no, it wasn't anything like that…no…no that's not what happened…no." There was a few seconds silence as he listened. "Fine, fine, have it your way" He ended the call and looked to me. "That was fucking weak" I frowned.

"Sergeant, I have no idea what you are referring to, I simply want to see this unfortunate incident conclude without unnecessary disruption to the evening" Cormann snorted.

"Yeah right" He looked to Jane, Liv and Ana and shook his head before turning away. "C'mon, let's get the fuck out of here" he said to his companions as he pushed his way off through the crowd. One of the others nodded politely to me before they both turned away and followed Cormann back to their table where they collected their gear and left. I exchanged a look with Jane, getting an equally puzzled look from her.

"What just happened?" said Liv.

"That would be me" said Natalie from off to one side, I hadn't seen her there and looked her way.

"What did you do?" She smiled quietly as she brandished her cell.

"I rang my CHP counterpart and told him that three of his officers were about to cause a hell of a PR mess, harassing women and starting a bar fight in an LAPD cop bar, all of which was being filmed on cell phones" She shrugged. "Andrew agreed that wasn't a good look and told me he'd ring Cormann" I nodded, she'd dealt with it differently from me but it had done the job.

"Nicely handled Natalie" She gave me a smile.

"I didn't want Ana getting her hands all bloody, I have better things for them to do later" That set off a round of everyone teasing Ana, together with whip cracking noises and gestures, she was unmoved, shrugging, unconcerned.

"Make love, not war, that's me" I smiled at her.

"I'm just pleased that ended peacefully, thanks to Miss Dearing, I truly didn't want to explain to Pope on Monday morning why we had three broken Highway Patrol officers on our hands" Mikki nodded.

"Yeah, he would have loved that" Sanchez backed her up.

"And we all know how you love paperwork Chief" I smiled.

"Very true Sergeant Sanchez, very true" I glanced around, seeing the trio of Highway Patrol officers long gone. "With our visitors departed I am sure I can look forward to a quiet evening?" I got nods and agreement all round, making me smile. "Excellent" I headed back to my seat to find Sharon had been joined by Andrea.

"All's well that ends well" I shrugged at Andrea's words as I sat.

"Jane, Liv and Ana are all extremely protective of their partners" I reached out and collected my wine glass, taking a small sip. "Ah, that's nice" I looked across to Andrea. "I have no doubt what the outcome would have been if it had come to blows, better all-around that it did not" Sharon and Andrea both nodded before the latter spoke.

"Yes, Mikki is the same" Sharon smiled.

"My girlfriend's not likely to beat someone up to defend my honour" She looked my way with a slight smile. "More likely she'd just shoot them" I shrugged with a happy smile.

"Nothing so crass, I'd just sic Jane and the others on them"

"Ah, so you're subcontracting your jerk boyfriend, excuse me, jerk girlfriend duties these days?"

"What can I say, rank has its privileges" I got a smile that was just for me.

"I suppose they do honey, I suppose they do"


	30. Chapter 30

As always, the characters here are the creation of their respective rights holders and the wonderful actors and actresses who bring them to life for us. Thanks for letting us play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **30** **Impromptu Modeling**

Liv's Viewpoint

I knew I was in trouble almost immediately, I just didn't know how much, not at first. It was a Sunday morning when I came back from changing over our rental car, it was due for servicing so they'd called during the week and asked us to drop it in where I could swap it over for another Audi, to find Nat and Maura had arrived and were waiting with Alex for me to get back.

I walked in to be met with a kiss from Alex and to be told I was going shopping downtown with them, I knew she'd planned something a little different as a stress relief from all the drama of the Witsec trial but this wasn't what I'd had in mind. Naturally I tried to get out of it but you try telling those three no and see how far you get; between Alex's big baby blues, Maura's sad pout and Natalie's miserably downcast expression I didn't really have a chance. I'd even tried ringing both Jane and Ana to get out of it, suggesting that I thought I had something planned with them but suspiciously, neither picked up, making me smell a rat.

Resigning myself to my fate, I shrugged, turned to them and said yes, getting happily kissed by all three, their sad expressions banished like they'd never been there, I swear I'm whipped…

I mean I knew they'd been talking about a spa day for a while, I just didn't realise I was being roped in, before you know it I'm being dragged into what I could tell was a really high-end salon in the Beverly Hills Hotel.

I ended up getting a facial, a manicure and pedicure, a full body massage and waxing, reflexology, a skin treatment, scalp massage, shampoo and condition, the works. It took hours, all the while my mind was impatiently telling me I had other things I needed doing, even as my body felt really good at what was happening. It helped that the others were all kinda nice about it, they were telling me that I looked good, that my skin would feel amazing, that Alex would like it, which was kinda playing dirty, using that card. One thing I did like was the massage; the masseuse took one look at me lying face down on the table with just a towel across my butt and smiled.

"You obviously work out, right" I nodded; I was a bit self-conscious about it, I mean only really Alex and our friends see me this undressed…

"Yeah, a bit" The woman just smiled broadly.

"Oh good, most of my customers are too delicate for a decently deep, really hard massage, but you, I think you'll like this" An hour and a half later I was stretched out like a wet noodle, I didn't realise how much stress and tension I'd been carrying until the masseuse, Caroline, had gone to work, she'd spent half the time cooing over my muscles, the other tsk-ing about how tight and wound up I was. I'd almost been embarrassed about the attention but Alex had wandered in and chatted to Caroline for a while, obviously approving of the way she was working me over, while a bit later Maura had walked in and spent a few minutes discussing techniques with Caroline, making me feel a bit better, or at least a little less self-conscious about the whole thing.

Caroline had left me there with a cheery ' _See you back here soon Olivia_ ' and I was left there to relax. It didn't last long though, soon enough I was dragged off for another part of the day's activities, this time a mani-pedi, sharing the room with the others as we all got done, being served coffee or tea while the staff worked on us, chatting back and forth about all sorts of things, pretty much anything anyone could think of, though no work talk; given what we all did it was kind of our 'house rule' that we didn't talk shop where anyone else might be around to hear it, it was unprofessional, especially given most civilians either found it really off-putting or it was subject to legal privilege.

Finally it was over and we enjoyed a late lunch up on the roof, I ended up with the steak frites and a fresh squeezed orange juice as a reward for surviving the day, or so I thought. I didn't realise that we weren't finished, instead we ended up down at a high-end lingerie shop on Rodeo Boulevard, which I was cool about, I mean Alex in lingerie, what's not to like? Except it wasn't for her, or Nat, or Maura, which I'd be equally cool about, I mean all three would look sensational in sexy lingerie, or pretty much anything else they wore, but instead they'd decided I needed some of my own.

I tried to explain I really didn't, which naturally didn't work, Alex just broke out the puppy dog eyes and the 'please Liv's' and I was done for, honestly it was almost embarrassing how quickly I caved, and that was without Nat and Maura's importuning's. Seriously, the only consolation I had was that I knew that Jane and Ana would have rolled over just as quick, if not even faster than I did; at least I put up SOME resistance.

By the end of it I was standing there all fidgety as the three of them told the pretty redhead behind the counter they were here to shop for lingerie for me. The woman, Siobhan, had smiled, her eyes slowly roving over me, obviously assessing me before she nodded agreeably.

"Oh yeah, we've got just the thing for someone like her" She tipped her head to regard me a bit more as she smiled. "Lots of things actually; this way ladies" With that she led the others over to racks full of delicate lace and silk, even leather for god's sake. She waved at racks with names like Agent Provocateur, Bendon, La Perla and others, and smiled. "Plenty to choose from here" She looked over at me, mischief in her eyes. "Do you know your measurements hon, or do you need me to make sure you measure up?" She held up a tape measure and let the end unwind from her fingers, fluttering down towards the floor as Alex chimed in.

"Oh she measures up all right" Siobhan nodded and shared a smile with Alex as she replied.

"I just bet she does". She looked to me and jingled the tape measure. "What's it gonna be hon?" I suddenly found myself stammering.

"No, no, that's okay, no I'm good" She pouted just a little.

"Oh-kay…that's a real shame, but okay" She exchanged another glance with Alex and her smile got a little sly. "Call me if you need any help with absolutely anything" She ran her eyes over me again. "Anything at all" With that she winked at the other three and sashayed back towards the registers as I saw the others smirking just a little.

"What?" All three played dumb, like they hadn't seen that girl half-flirt with me.

"Oh, nothing" said Nat, backed up by Maura.

"I have absolutely no idea what you might be referring to" Alex just grinned, reaching out and grabbing a corset on a hanger.

"Stop flirting with the lady and come here Liv" Me…I wasn't the one doing the flirting…

A couple of minutes later I was stripped and slipping into the corset, the front and back lacing was all for show, it zipped up on the left side, pulling the zipper tight I turned to look at myself and almost groaned, my tits were held up and out like they were on a platter, knowing Alex would drool over them like this, I mean she liked them any time but on show like this…

This was really well outside my comfort zone, but Alex had asked me to do it for her, she'd explained that really wanted to see me do this, plus she was hungry to see me in something sexy and hot. Even if I'd contemplated saying no, both Maura and Nat had turned on the charm, both explaining that with all the hard work in the gym I'd done in recent years I had a body that was built to look good in lingerie. I didn't see it that way, and that sure as hell wasn't why I spent all those hours in the gym but I was also smart enough to realise I wasn't going to win this one, not against all three of them at once. Hell, I wouldn't have won that one against even Alex on her own.

The one thing I didn't want was Jane and Ana getting a blow by blow description of everything I was wearing, I mean I was mortified enough just doing this in front of the three of them, knowing the others knew all about it, I'd die of embarrassment and I'd never live it down. Alex had just smiled and said ' _okay_ ', Natalie had smiled teasingly and winked, she really was a dreadful flirt.

"That's funny, that's pretty much the same thing Ana said when I did this to her the first time" While I was still digesting that little comment Maura had nodded at her before turning her head to run her eyes over me, appreciation visible in them.

"Yes, Jane also made much the same comment the first time we did this together" She smiled happily at me, making me return that smile unconsciously, but hey, it's Maura, I can't help it, I think she's amazing; Natalie too, I'm so glad that they and Alex are like sisters, even if they occasionally do stuff like this to me, well to all of us, or so it seemed.

I finished getting changed in the dressing room and walked up to the curtain; fortunately they had an area that wasn't visible to any of the store's other customers, so I didn't have to worry about someone wandering in off the street seeing me parading around looking like a fool. I heard the three of them chatting as they waited, so I called out.

"You ready?" Alex was emphatic.

"We sure are" She was backed up by Natalie.

"C'mon out Liv" I pulled the curtain back and stepped out, all nervous and kinda shy, to see the three of them turn to look at me, before near identical smiles broke out.

"Exquisite" Maua said, her eyes running over me, making me even more embarrassed.

"Do I look okay?" I said, drawing a reassuring comment from Al.

"You look fine Tiger" I heard Natalie muttering to herself.

"Better than fine"

Over the next hour, I ended up modeling a range of lingerie, to the raucous approval of all three blondes, I'd been mortified at first, this really wasn't my thing but I'd eventually relaxed enough to kinda enjoy it. It helped they were nothing but supportive, telling me over and over again that I looked great, that I looked amazing, that all that hard work in the gym and lazing by the pool in the sun had paid great dividends, to the point that I'd eventually metaphorically shrugged, told myself ' _oh fuck it all_ ' and just relaxed.

As the novelty had worn off and I'd kinda got into it I'd started trying to put a little sauce in it, walking out, striking a pose and even doing some silly things like blowing them kisses like I'd seen the Victoria's Secret Angels doing. I was sure I looked silly, maybe even ridiculous, but they'd laughed and clapped and even wolf whistled at times, so I was making them happy, and for that I'd endure looking a little dumb. I do have to say though that having three women as beautiful as Maura, Nat and Alex making their appreciation so apparent was a nice little ego boost.

"All dressed up and waiting to blow" was how Nat had described it, getting sneaky laughs from the other two as I'd rolled my eyes.

At one point Siobhan had come by, handing out bottles of water and had turned as I walked out in a blood red lingerie set and a sheer flowy dressing gown thingy. Her eyes had narrowed as she ran her eyes over me, nodding approvingly, before she turned to look at the others.

"If she ever wants to make some pocket money as a model at one of our catwalk nights let me know, we'd love to have her wearing some of our clothes" She smiled. "The customers would love her" Alex just nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind, won't I Tiger?" I just shook my head.

"No way, this is bad enough, I couldn't do this in front of strangers" Siobhan just grinned as she walked past me on the way out, stopping to pat me on the shoulder.

"Never say never honey, just give it some thought" With that she turned and winked at the others and wandered out.

"Stop flirting with her Liv" Alex said, though the wide smile she was wearing showed she was just teasing me. Shaking my head I'd turned and walked out the back, the girl's laughter following me.

Finally I walked out in a final set that Siobhan had specially selected for me, a leather-style corset with built in suspender belt, matching G string and stockings, wearing a set of shiny black thigh high stripper boots from the shop's collection of shoes that Siobhan had insisted went with that set perfectly. I walked through the curtain and out in front of them, striking a pose, to stunned silence. I was a bit surprised by the quiet, Maura and Natalie look were looking at me through narrowed eyes, their expressions almost hungry while the look Alex had turned on me was downright predatory.

"Do I look ok; it's not too much is it?" I asked, a little nervously, seeing all three of them staring at me like that, they looked like I was dessert and they were starving. None said anything for a moment, making my nervousness spike before Maura got up and walked, well stalked might be a better word, over to me, leaning in and up a little and kissed me full on the lips, passionately, lingering for a moment before slowly pulling away as I was left with the taste of her on my lips and her scent in my nostrils.

"No, not too much, in fact you look sensational, Alex is going to eat you up" She glanced over at the others and smiled. "What do you think?"

Natalie smiled, a wicked, evil smile as she stood up and quite literally sashayed over too where I was standing, like Maura she leant in, kissing me on the lips, the kiss reminding me of her at The Intersection that last night, all hot and hungry. She finally pulled back and threw a glance at Alex before speaking, her voice a little throaty.

"It's a good thing you're taken Liv, otherwise Maura and I'd be fighting over who takes you home. Alex's practically salivating over there" Natalie winked at me as Maura smiled happily up at us and spoke.

"If you will excuse me, I need to buy a set of that for Jane" At that Natalie smirked.

"Great minds think alike, I need a set for Ana too" They both ran their eyes, a trifle hungrily, over me before exiting, leaving me strung as tight as piano wire, before I looked over to Alex who was watching me through hooded eyes. She hadn't said anything that whole time, just stared at me with a dark, hungry gaze.

"You ok angel?" I watched as Alex slowly uncoiled herself from the couch where she was sitting and prowled over towards me, still not saying anything but she didn't have to, I could see the want in her eyes so hot it burned, igniting a fire deep down inside me as well. Alex stepped up to me and circled around, dragging one hand teasingly over my body as she circled, her ravenous eyes seemed to eat me up. Finally she spoke, her voice low and throaty.

"Do you have the slightest idea of what seeing you in all that lovely lingerie has done to me?" I smiled, at her words and her tone both.

"I hope you liked it?" She shook her head.

"Liked it? Liv, ever since you walked out of there in the first set, I've been imagining feeling you writhe under me, your skin wrapped in silk and lace and satin, stripping you out of each piece slowly and then fucking you senseless. Yes, you could say I liked it" She leant in and kissed me gently, soft but full of promise. "Then you walked out dressed like that and you instantly ruined my panties, probably Nat and Maura's too" I swallowed at the imagery. "Tiger, you are sex personified and as soon as I get you home I am going to get you out of your clothes and back into that set, because I can't wait to fuck you and have you fuck me senseless"

I felt my body instantly react to her words, delivered in a tone that promised exactly what she said; I knew I was doomed, in a really good way. I went to say something, when Alex plastered herself body up against me and kissed me hard, practically assaulting my mouth with her lips and tongue as she wrapped herself around me even as my arms came up to hold her close.

I don't know how long we were like that, lost in each other before, finally, we broke apart, leaving me gasping, Alex can be occasionally the insatiable lover but this, this was almost desperate desire, her eyes were dark with lust and arousal and that assault had been almost feral.

"Jesus Alex, are you ok?" Alex's tone was dirty and full of promise.

"Liv, I wasn't joking, I am going to get you home and then have you, every way possible, and probably a few impossible ways as well" She smiled at me but I was almost painfully turned on by her words, so full of urgent promise, stoking my own fires. Alex obviously noticed my reaction as she reached out and teased my by now painfully erect nipples through the bustier even as she spoke, her voice throaty.

"See, being feminine has its rewards" I nodded a bit dumbly, but in my defence, I wasn't exactly thinking straight right at that point.

"Apparently it does" She smiled and took a step back.

"Let's get all of this bagged up and we'll be out of here" I frowned at that,

"Which sets should I keep?"

"All of them tiger, all of them" she smiled as I went to protest, I must have worn close to twenty outfits.

"But it's too much Alex" She shook her head decisively.

"No Liv, it's just barely enough, I'm looking forward to seeing you in all of them"

"But it'll cost a fortune" I stammered, none of this stuff was cheap, I'd seen some of the tags, I'd thought she might want me to get one or two, but all of them…

"Liv, no arguments, it may cost a fortune, but you are worth far more than that, go and get changed, we have only one more stop before we get home and I get to fuck your brains out" I licked my suddenly dry lips at the imagery before speaking.

"Where are we going?" The look I got stoked the fire already burning deep within me.

"There has to be a store somewhere in this centre that sells thigh high boots and, my dear Liv, I'm going to find it"


	31. Chapter 31

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **31 Complications**

 **Los Angeles**

Brenda's viewpoint

It was Monday morning and I was standing there in front of the whiteboard, laying out what we knew so far on our organ legging case, sharing the stage so to speak with Sharon as I kicked us off in front of our combined teams. Many of the team knew some of what was happening but this was a chance to share it all with everyone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, based on what we've so far established, none of our deceased had employer-provided medical cover, nor, given their relatively low wage jobs, sufficient private cover for anything beyond basic treatment" I looked round, seeing a few nods as I continued. "A canvas of the community clinics in the area has revealed that all four of our unwilling donors were patients at the Madison Practice Medical Centre or the Blue Shield Foundation Family Clinic" Sharon nodded and took over.

"We managed to convince the management at the clinic to cooperate and we were able to track down which doctors had seen our victims, it turns out that they had all seen the same two doctors, but neither of those doctors were specialists, certainly not transplant specialists" She looked around the group. "That left the Madison Practice; unfortunately the medical centre management and staff were not particularly inclined to be all that helpful, demanding a warrant, something Judge Hoya signed off very reluctantly" She shrugged. "In his view we were straying perilously close to infringing doctor patient confidentiality" Sharon glanced my way. "It took all of the Chief's and my persuasive powers to get him to sign off on a very carefully circumscribed warrant" I nodded.

"It took some doing but he eventually gave us a warrant and we went back to the Madison Practice, they wouldn't let us see their medical records, obviously citing doctor patient confidentiality however what we did get was a list of doctors that had seen each victim and it quickly became apparent that there were several doctors common to all of them. A search of their backgrounds has revealed that only one of them is a transplant specialist" I stepped forward, using a magnet to pin a picture to the whiteboard with a bit of a flourish, stepping back and sharing the information. "And that would be Doctor Martin Tremblay, a resident doctor at the Cambridge Medical Institute up near UCLA. According to their website he is a specialist in liver diseases and transplants"

"Sounds awesome Chief, when do we pick him up?" It was Martin Riggs from Sharon's team, his comment drawing a wry smile from me as Sharon spoke.

"Unfortunately there is a complication" Provenza rolled his eyes as he spoke; an old, experienced hand at this, he nailed it in one.

"Let me guess, politics rears its ugly head?" Sharon nodded with a small hint of a smile.

"Well picked Lieutenant, it turns out that Doctor Tremblay conducted a liver transplant on the niece of the senior Senator for California late last year" she said. "Naturally the Senator not only took a close interest in the procedure but has made their gratitude to Doctor Tremblay for their niece's continued survival extremely well known, all of which means we need significantly more proof before arresting him, or even bringing him in for questioning"

"What about a warrant Chief, to search his files, financials and his phone records?" David Gabriel asked. I glanced across at her and Sharon handled that.

"We need more than we have right now before a judge will grant one"

"Oh for crying out loud…" It was Jane, "…how much more do we need?" I shrugged in response.

"A lot more than the circumstantial evidence we have now. If we pull him in all he has to do is deny everything and without anything solid we'd have to let him go soon enough, having achieved nothing besides alerting him that we are on his trail, plus his lawyer will probably file for harassment and you can be assured that Chief Pope will be receiving a phone call from Washington quick smart, don't you worry 'bout that"

"What about records at this institute...hospital…whatever…of his, can we get a warrant for them?" Lieutenant Jefferies asked. Sharon grimaced slightly as she answered.

"Doctor Tremblay is one of the Institute directors, so he would almost certainly be immediately alerted should we try and undertake a search warrant" I nodded at Sharon's summation and carried on.

"So that means we have to pull surveillance on him, particularly in the early evenings, that seems to be his preferred time to strike" There was a wave of nods at that before Flynn jumped in.

"Wonder how soon after whacking a donor does this guy Tremblay puts the liver into the person coughing up the readies for it?" Jane handled that.

"Not long according to Maura, the shorter the time between harvesting and implant the better the chances of success" She shook her head. "You have to figure pretty soon, probably the same night" Kahn spoke up.

"If I may Chief…" I nodded his way and spoke.

"Yes detective?"

"Perhaps we should look to obtain a surgery list for this Cambridge Institute, if we can locate evenings when this doctor is operating late, that may assist us in determining when he will be obtaining the organ from his unwilling donor" I thought that over, seeing Sharon nodding as well, we exchanged a glance and she looked to him and replied.

"That's a good idea, though I don't know how you'd obtain it" For a moment Khan smiled, so predatory and confident, so different from his normal manner it was like looking at Mister Hyde to his normal Doctor Jekyll, before it was gone like it had never been, leaving me wondering what I'd seen, even as he spoke.

"I will attempt to procure the information you require" Sharon tipped her head to regard him as I did the same before we looked to each other and carried on a lightning-fast conversation without words; something along the lines of ' _do I really want to know?_ ' with me replying ' _very likely not_ ', Sharon lifting one eyebrow and getting a small smile from me in return before I looked back to Khan.

"Then by all means please do detective, and good luck obtaining the records" I looked round the group. "We also need to see if we can get an up-to-date list of other clients that the good doctor has 'treated' at this Madison Practice" I put it in finger quotes. I looked to Amy Sykes and Martin Riggs.

"That will be your job Detectives, we need a list of his patients at this Madison Practice going back at least six months; the warrant covers that much so you hopefully should not have too many issues with obtaining what we need" I got a pair of nods and moved on. "It is better than even odds that he's selecting his victims that way, then once he has a donor match for his liver transplant he sets up surgery and heads off to harvest their liver"

"Pretty damned cold-blooded Chief" It was Jefferies, getting nods from the rest of us.

"That it surely is Lieutenant" I shook my head then continued. "The issue will be catching him in the act" Sharon took up the thread.

"If Detective Khan can indeed locate the Doctor's operating schedule, then we will need to set up surveillance on him on those nights, plus on each of the Doctor's recent clients at the clinic, hopefully we will be able to catch him as he is entering his victim's residence" I frowned at that, not happy with it but seeing no other option, noting a few others doing the same, Sanchez was the one to put it into words.

"Begging your pardon Ma'am but that's gonna be tricky, I mean if we're able to follow him and if we have people in place at the victim's and if we can catch him on the premises and if we can arrest him before he attacks his victim…that's way too many if's for my liking" Sharon nodded.

"That it is and I share your concerns, neither the Chief nor I are totally happy with this approach, but we have to be able to catch him before he kills another victim but in the act, otherwise he denies everything and all we have is some circumstantial evidence"

"Given the number of potential victims we've gotta cover it's gonna take both teams" At Riggs's comment Sharon and I both nodded. I glanced at her then handled that one.

"Indeed Detective, however with the trial hopefully wrapping up in the next week or so that will free Detective Mendoza and Sergeant Benson to rejoin us, hopefully before our suspect next goes calling".

There were nods at that, everyone had been watching the Witsec trial, it had even been a subject of discussion at Pope's Thursday morning senior officers meeting and right on down to the recruits at the academy, everyone had been following it and everyone had an opinion, especially about Humphries and her claims to be a vigilante. The general consensus seemed to be that she was a murderous bitch who belonged behind bars for good, something I was in perfect agreement with.

The other topic had been the fact that so many of the investigating team and the prosecutors were gay, the Defence's hammering away at that point had been picked up by some people in the department who didn't know us, there'd been a lot of chatter on that matter, before Humphries had opened up and destroyed the Defence's efforts, basically confessing to everything as she tried to position herself as a vigilante, not a murderous psychopath.

Fortunately all she'd likely done was ensure they all had adjoining cells on death row, a verdict I couldn't wait for to see.

That was then, this was now and we had work to do.

"So ladies and gentlemen, our job is to dig into the good Doctor Tremblay's life and see what turns up. We'll be spreading the work round, but we want to know everything we can find about him, his history, background, known associates, hobbies, colleagues, family and friends, financials, you name it, we need it, as soon as possible, before he goes harvesting once again" I grimaced. "I have no idea how soon he will be after another liver, maybe what happened at that last murder scared him off, at least for a while"

"Gotta expect that his rich clients won't want to wait Chief, they'll want their new liver ASAP" It was Provenza, backed up by Flynn.

"In my experience really rich people expect that they get what they pay for, pronto" I nodded as Sharon responded.

"That is true Lieutenant, leaving us little time to try and track him down" There was general agreement and with that we started assigning work to the team, knowing we were up against the clock.

Several days later and we were in Pope's office. We'd managed to avoid Pope's Senior Officers Meeting this week, it had been canceled as he was due to give evidence at the trial this morning; unfortunately we hadn't escaped him, instead receiving a summons to be at his office by 9 that morning. It may have been an early meeting but both Sharon and I were tired, we'd been called out last night to the scene of another attack, this time of a middle-aged Latino woman in Huntington Park. The victim not been discovered for over 24 hours, by which time the trail had gone cold. The MO was exactly the same as the previous attacks; the injury had been hacked up like the others to cover the fact that the liver had been removed, together with several other organs which suggested that the Doctor thought he was still hiding his work. If nothing else the attack confirmed that his discovery during the murder of the Ferrell mother and son had not dissuaded him from continuing, it also suggested that he had clients who were on a timetable, driving him to seek out more unwilling donors.

Either that or he was just greedy.

We'd been called out when the victim had been found by her brother after not answering his phone calls for almost two days; the team had been able to confirm that she was a Madison Practice client and Khan had confirmed that Tremblay had conducted surgery late the same night as the murder, drawing the circumstantial noose that bit tighter around him. The evidence however, despite our best efforts, was still circumstantial and we were trying to get enough real evidence to tie Tremblay to the victims.

Amy Sykes had suggested getting a warrant to take a DNA sample from the liver of Tremblay's recent patient and comparing it with the latest victim's, something I'd found …interesting, if only as a sign of the team's frustration, but a quick chat to the DA's office had confirmed that, given it would require an invasive procedure on a recent surgery patient, there was no way in hell a judge would ever sign off on it.

Now we were sitting in Pope's office while he complained about the investigation, he hadn't particularly restrained himself either, demanding to know why we didn't have anyone in custody, despite six deaths and with the combined resources of two teams on the case. I'd tried to explain why, pointing out that custody required proof beyond the purely circumstantial, something we were decidedly short of right now but he hadn't wanted to hear it.

Sharon had listened to him bluster before quietly asking if having someone arrested was worth being called to account in the Mayor's office and probably up in Sacramento as well, because that would be the consequences. That had slowed him down enough for us to explain, yet again, that the principal suspect had sufficient political cover that the evidence had to be ironclad, or else. Sharon hadn't spelled out exactly what the 'or else' would be but Pope wasn't a complete idiot, instead deflecting from that by demanding we find the evidence needed to allow us to arrest our suspect and give Pope a chance to get his face in front of the camera's to announce the good news.

With an election coming up in less than 12 months Pope wanted his name associated with good news, explaining why he let Natalie carry the brunt of the bad news announcements, such as trying to hose down the resurgence of the 'cannibal killer' stories in the wake of our latest death, something I didn't envy her having to deal with.

We'd managed to eventually get out of there, after Pope had finally wound down, having done little more than waste over half hour of Sharon's and my time to no good purpose. I suppose being called to give evidence at the trial as a Defence witness later this morning was making him techy, god knows he'd had enough opportunity to see the kind of mud being tossed around; he was probably scared some of it might stick to him, especially in an election year.

Later that afternoon the team had reconvened for another session; despite the death of our latest victim the week had been productive and we now had a plethora of details on Doctor Martin Tremblay's life, but little headway on actually tying him to the murders.

We threw the discussion open to the floor, after all we had a lot of varied experience amongst the combined teams, it didn't take long before they started to get down to means and opportunity, given we had a good reason for motive,. It turned out transplants were a very costly business even legally, harvesting one 'to order'…well Tremblay must be charging a fortune, something his lifestyle supported. He owned a mansion in Holmby Hills, drove an almost new Maserati and had a pretty, substantially younger, wife with apparently expensive tastes in clothes and jewelry. That last came from Jane who had kept Tremblay's wife under surveillance for several days, reporting that she had similar tastes in shopping centers to Maura, even if her clothing choices seemed to veer more towards tight and revealing than stylish and chic.

Khan had been tasked to dig into the Doctor's financials, discovering that he was worth several million in cash and a lot more in assets and property, mind you he was running a very expensive lifestyle as well, it seemed the Tremblay's like to throw lavish parties every few weeks, lavish enough that each cost more than Sharon and my monthly salaries combined. Doing it to 'be seen being seen' as Sharon had put it.

One positive development was that Khan was somehow able to access the surgery lists for the Cambridge Medical Institute and he'd managed to confirm that Tremblay had conducted a transplant late in the same evening that the victim had died, adding to the very large collection of circumstantial evidence we had gathered, and he was now confident he could provide each days surgery lists not long after they were posted in the morning, giving us some warning of Tremblay's likely attacks. In fact he'd just finished confirming that there were no surgeries scheduled for tonight, giving us a night off so to speak.

"I suppose we can guess how he's getting in to his victim's" At Provenza's statement I watched as Sykes spoke up.

"Yeah, knocks on the door, the vic sees the doctor who treated her, he feeds them some BS about dropping in to discuss some medical issue that their visit turned up and the vic invites the nice doctor in" I nodded, that made sense, something Sharon obviously agreed with.

"That would tie in with what Sergeant Benson noticed at one of the victim's places. The electric kettle had boiled dry" Jane jumped on that.

"Maybe he arrives, starts talking to the vic; tells them something's turned up like Sykes here says; nothing too serious but he thought he should let them know as he was in the area. They offer him a coffee or something, which leads the vic into the kitchen where they're distracted, giving him time to sneak up on them from behind them and carry out the attack" Sharon nodded.

"That is more than plausible, after all most people trust their doctor to act in their best interests"

"Unless their doc's a psycho like this one" It was Jefferies, drawing nods from several people across the room.

Jane's cell buzzed, alerting her to a text message. She read it and looked up, waiting for a break in the conversation, when one came up she spoke.

"That was from Maura, apparently the Defence just closed, that fossil on the bench is calling an early end to today with summations tomorrow morning and the media's saying the jury will be deliberating by lunch, apparently media's suggesting a verdict in a couple hours at most" I nodded and looked to Sharon, getting one in return as we came to an unspoken agreement before I looked back to Jane and spoke.

"I believe that we should all be there in person for the final day, if for no other reason than to see some well-deserved justice delivered" Jane nodded.

"Sounds good to me, I'll let Maura, Ana and Nat know" Sharon spoke up.

"Please let ADA's Cabot and Hobbs know we will be in attendance, if possible I'd like to arrange front row seats for the verdict" Jane nodded decisively.

"You got it"


	32. Chapter 32

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **32 Diversions**

Mikki's viewpoint

We'd got the heads up this afternoon; Ahmed had downloaded the day's surgery schedule for the nutcase's hospital and he was scheduled to do a liver transplant this evening. Now we'd gathered together, both teams in the Major Crimes conference room as the Chief and the Commander explained what we were doing.

While what I'd been doing with keeping Andrea and Alex safe during the trial had been important, it felt good to be back at work again. We'd celebrated the trial's verdict with a dinner and drinks night at Alex and Liv's massive rental place up north, by the time it was over we'd all been too happy and inebriated to drive, instead we'd crashed at their place, then lazed around the pool all Saturday, too relieved and relaxed to do much more, not that anyone cared.

As a bonus I got to snuggle with a swimsuit-wearing Andrea all day, plus she made her appreciation of the skimpy bikini I was wearing very apparent, so much so that I would have been embarrassed anywhere else, but our friends hadn't cared, they were doing much the same thing all day as well. At one point as I lay there on a sun lounger with a dozing Andrea snuggled in my arms I reflected that our lives had changed so much and all for the better: Andrea, the group of friends we'd made, hell, even seeing the Chief as more than just my boss, something that still occasionally blew my mind. I mean her and Sharon had got into some silly argument in the kitchen as we were getting lunch ready which led to her poking her tongue out at Sharon, getting one in return as we laughed at them, watching as they grinned at each other, yeah, it'd been a good day.

It was funny, if someone had told me six months ago I'd be hanging round with a group of filthy rich people, crashing in their mansion, laying round the pool in bikinis, all the while making love to a strong, older woman, I'd have thought they were loco. It was a hell of a long way from growing up in east LA, but I wouldn't change my life now for anything.

Now though we were back at work, chasing this crazy surgeon, as Brenda explained.

"Doctor Tremblay has a short notice liver transplant procedure scheduled, something that apparently isn't normal so I suspect there's a better than even chance he's going to go after a donor for his patient's new liver" She frowned. "The procedure's scheduled for 10 PM this evening, an unusual time to be sure" the Chief stated. "We believe that he will be carrying out a murder earlier in the evening to obtain the liver from the unwilling donor then transplanting it into the patient" Sharon nodded, all business in a dark blue tailored skirt suit and heels, so different from Saturday's laughing woman in the red one piece.

"We unfortunately have a few too many options for victims, so we're going to split up the teams and carry out surveillance on the most recent women who he's seen at the clinic" She shrugged. "We believe that he's been looking for a donor and recently found one, he did do a shift at the Madison Practice last week; apparently he saw two women who match his victim profile so they too will be under surveillance." There were a range of expressions around the room at the thought of going to see a doctor and having him measure you up for murder, all because you happened to have the right organ type for somebody else. That was seriously messed up, like really fucking messed up. "With so many to cover we're going to have to spread ourselves thin" Sharon said. "That generally means two detectives per potential victim" Brenda nodded.

"The Commander and I will be covering one of the potential targets; each of you will be covering another with your partner" Amy Sykes lifted her hand.

"What about me, I'm solo with Riggs off sick?" Sharon acknowledged her concern.

"Indeed, poor timing on Detective Riggs part but I'm sure he didn't ask to get glandular fever" She nodded to Brenda, then me. "You will be partnered with Detective Mendoza who will also be flying solo" I looked up, surprised and not bothering to hide it.

"What?" I paused; glanced Ahmed's way then restated that a little more diplomatically, as Andrea keeps reminding me to try. "I will?" Brenda nodded.

"I'm afraid so detective, Detective Khan will be putting his I.T. skills to work monitoring the computer systems in the good doctor's institute, trying to get us more information" I threw another glance Ahmad's way, seeing him look back at me, an apologetic and embarrassed little grimace-smile on his face, he wasn't happy about it either, something that made me feel a little better, not much but still… Brenda meanwhile had moved on.

"Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza draw surveillance on the doctor, tracking him on his movements, hopefully not only will that aid us in preventing yet another murder, it will give us a chance to ascertain how he is avoiding detection while travelling to and from the site of his crimes" I saw them nod then looked across at Sykes to see her watching me. I gave her a shrug and got a nod in return, we'd see.

That night we were sitting in my unmarked, parked outside a small apartment in Walnut Park, the woman inside, a late-40's divorcee, had attended the Madison Practice and been seen by Tremblay last week, so there was a good chance she was a possible donor, something we were here to stop.

The conversation had proceeded in fits and starts, two people who barely knew each other beyond nodding acquaintance passing time together. I mean don't get me wrong, Sykes was attractive, tall, slim, nice ass in her slacks, obviously fit, I'd seen her with her jacket off, exposing a set of nicely toned arms, not Benson's awesome definition but still good so she probably did weights, warm brown skin and eyes, lips that looked like they'd be like kissing soft pillows, hell if I'd been single I'd have been at least mildly interested even if she was straight, now though I just admired her as a good looking woman.

We listened idly to the radio as Flynn and Provenza reported the Doc had left his hospital and was driving south-east, headed down town, waiting and watching.

We'd covered sports, our careers, interesting cases, different kinds of music, she was into rap and I liked hip-hop, a bit of an issue when Andrea was a huge 90s pop fan; our opinions of the LAPD under Pope, favourite foods and good restaurants before the conversation slipped into territory I'd kinda expected, about being gay.

"Given the trial and all, it looks like Jefferies, Kwang and I are the token non-gay women in our teams" I shrugged as my eyes scanned the street, more out of habit than need.

"Actually, you're wrong there" I glanced her way and got a questioning look in return. "I'm actually one of only two gay women here; the only other one is Alex Cabot"

"How do you figure that?" I smiled a little.

"Well, from what I've gathered all the others are actually bi" I got a head tilt at that.

"Really, you're kidding?" she said. I shook my head.

"All of the others have been with guys but they've ended up with women, I mean Sharon Raydor has two kids, Brenda's been married, Andrea too so it's not like they're charter members of the gay female cop club" I looked her way and decided to mess with her a little, all to drive the lesson home. "Are you seeing anyone right now?" Sykes shrugged.

"Yes, on and off" She pulled a face. "Well more off than on to be honest"

"Is it serious…?" I asked "Because it doesn't seem like it, based on that"

"No, not really….no" I glanced at her and dug a little.

"Why not?" I asked, she pulled a thoughtful face for a moment before she answered.

"He doesn't really like the whole cop, getting shot at thing" I understood that, I'd had the same thing when I was going out with women who didn't understand why I did it, or they didn't want to.

"So just casual?" I prodded, getting a nod.

"Yeah, he's not Mr Right, just Mr Right Now" I knew all about that from my past too.

"So they scratch the itch?" I asked; she glanced my way before answering.

"Pretty much, it's nice to have someone to call up when it all gets too much, sometimes you just want a no-strings-attached fuck, forget the world" I nodded at that, given what my life used to be like.

"Completely agree, I used to be exactly the same" I got a disbelieving look.

"Really?" she asked. I nodded, looking back at the past, back before Andrea.

"Yep, the world's no different for lesbians either; we're all looking for someone special. That's why we hook up in bars and parties, have casual sex, affairs, bad relationships and break ups, trust me, being a lesbian is no ticket to happy ever afters-ville" Sykes regarded me with a slightly sceptical look as she spoke.

"Funny, from where I stand you guys all look like you're happy. The Chief and the Commander, Rizzoli and Isles, Cabot and Benson, Romanov and Dearing, everyone seems pretty damned content. Hell, you look like you're pretty comfortable with Andrea Hobbs, even if she didn't strike me as your type" I looked her way and gave her a questioning look even as I asked.

"What do you mean?" She shrugged, playing it down.

"Well, you're obviously younger than her, by a good few years, nice looking, probably get lots of attention; I didn't think that Hobbs was your type" she stated.

"What do you think is my type then?" I asked. She considered me for a moment before answering.

"I don't know; someone younger, I can imagine someone really pretty, really feminine, a bit quieter, you come across a bit dominant, a bit butch, so someone not like you" I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud at that, she'd nailed it.

"I can see that, in fact you just described my last three girlfriends. Instead I ended up with an older, kick ass DA, but it works y'know. She cuts me no slack, drives me to be a better cop, a better person, makes me work at it" I said, a little proudly, but I was proud, of Andrea, of us being together. Sykes looked at me, openly interested.

"How so?" Before I could answer we heard Flynn's voice over the tactical channel.

" _The suspect's pulled into the downtown Pullman Hotel valet parking, I'm following on foot_ " We exchanged a glance as Brenda acknowledged him then went back to the subject.

"With my ex's, I was the dominant one, the one taking charge, making the decisions, everything happened on my terms" I said. "On the other hand Andrea's an accomplished woman, she doesn't take a back seat to anyone, hell, she's gone toe to toe with both the Chief and the Commander on warrants and depositions and stuff and come out on top most of the time, so no way was she going to let me walk all over her"

I shook my head, remembering an abject lesson in humility I'd learned the hard way.

"First time I tried, didn't even think about it, just made all the decisions and let her know what was happening, she just ripped strips off me, told me this was a partnership, if we were going to make the relationship work then everything was going to be shared 50 / 50, including decision-making. If I couldn't handle that then I should not let the door hit me in the ass on the way out and I should go back to picking up bimbo's, maybe give her a call when I grew up" Sykes' eyes went wide at that.

"Holy shit, she said that?" At her evident surprise I smiled, a little ruefully and nodded slowly.

"Hell yeah, gave me a righteous ass kicking right round the block, made me understand that she was nothing like the young kids I'd been fucking around with before" I said.

"Wow!" She eyed me up for a second then continued. "How did you take it?"

"Pretty badly, I stormed out, went out to a lesbian bar I knew and sat there having a drink. All I could think about was no one tells me what to do. Even had a couple of girls try the sympathy play, looking to hook up…" She nodded, obviously interested

"And?" I shook my head slowly as I replied.

"Can't say I wasn't tempted, but it kinda struck me right there, they were just like all the others, I'd fuck them, but in the end I'd be the one to end it because I'd end up bored, they were happy to let me be the big butch cop with the gun and the attitude and they'd be the girlfriend. That wasn't a relationship, they had mommy issues and they wanted a strong woman to take charge so they didn't have to make decisions, deal with the consequences" At my words Sykes nodded and prodded me a bit.

"So you went back to Andrea?" I nodded slowly, remembering that evening.

"Kinda. Rang her and asked if she was still mad at me. She said no, I needed to hear what she'd said if we were going to work out. She came down to the bar; we sat there and talked, talked for a while, working things out. It was funny, being there. I learnt a valuable lesson that night" Sykes tipped her head to regard me.

"Oh yeah, what was that?" she asked. I smiled a little at the memory then explained.

"I was sitting there in that bar for two or three hours alone, must have been hit on half a dozen times. Look, I'm aware of my looks, used them to hook up often enough to know I'm a catch right?" I saw her nodding slowly as I finished.

"Maybe, I guess; if you're into the whole butch thing I suppose" I gave her a half-hearted finger.

"Fuck you…anyway when Andrea turned up, in her hand-tailored 'go to court' silk suit and Balenciaga four inch heels, she was turning them down every ten minutes" I said, remembering that singularly humbling experience. "I mean I was sitting right there and it was like I didn't exist. She had women sending drinks over, women walking up and asking her out right in front of me"

"Jesus really?" She shook her head, "How'd that make you feel?

"On one hand I was pretty pissed, I felt like shooting one woman who wouldn't take no for an answer, until Andrea turned her down pretty fucking hard, told her the only reason her detective girlfriend, I was standing right fucking there I might add, hadn't killed her where she stood was that the blood spatter would ruin Andrea's suit and then she'd have to take it out of my hide" Sykes nodded sagely.

"An important point that" I nodded agreeably and continued.

"On the other hand it was a pretty abject, head-shrinking lesson. I mean I know I'm hot, I get enough offers so the evidence is in, but Andrea, she walked in and owned that bar, her personality, her looks, her charisma, the power suit and the power attitude, Jesus, she attracted every young girl with a mommy issue, they all wanted her" I finished, getting a nod from Sykes.

"Yeah, I could see that, she and Cabot both came across as pretty dominant, take no prisoner hard asses in the WitSec trial" I looked around, checking everything in the surrounding area out of habit before coming back to her.

"They're not like that away from the court, trust me" I gave her a soft smile, remembering a few episodes then pushed on. "Anyway seeing that made me realise that she was a woman, not a girl, strong and independent and that I was lucky she was even giving me a second chance. I mean she could have walked out of there with anyone she wanted, but she was willing to try and make it work with me" I paused for a moment then decided to give her some context.

"I mean us getting together sorta happened by accident, we were working together prepping for one of my cases she was prosecuting, I invited her out for a drink on Friday night after a long week, surprisingly she said yes. Anyway we'd had a few and started talking about relationship issues, we were both single after ending relationships, after a few drinks we started talking, I started flirting with her, just to mess with her, turned out she was interested and things went from there" I said, drawing a question from Sykes.

"She wasn't bothered that a gay girl was flirting?" It was a good question, one worth an honest answer.

"Andrea wasn't a virgin; she'd had a girlfriend, years before, so she knew what she was talking about. We ended up hooking up, mostly as a comfort thing, we were both lonely. Never expected it would be a long term thing though, really happy that this looks like it might be the one" I said, cocking an eyebrow her way and gave her a questioning look. "You never been tempted, to shop the other side of the street I mean?" I asked.

"Who me, no way!" I grinned at her emphatic answer, like so many straight girls she was sure they weren't into women, until they tried it, that is. "Why, you offering?" I waved that idea away.

"No, not me, but If you change your mind let me know, I'll take you some place like Blush or Tempt or The Intersection or Bar Azul and let the girls swarm around you" I got a look of straight up surprise, something her voice carried too.

"Me?" I nodded, teasing her a little.

"Sure, you're attractive, tall, obviously fit and strong, you obviously work out, got the whole cop attitude and swagger thing that pushes a lot of girls buttons, you'd have no trouble picking up" I got a head shake.

"No thanks, girls aren't my thing" She said, making me smile.

"Shame, you might like it" Sykes was sure of her answer.

"No, I like guys" I shrugged as I responded.

"Lots of girls do" I said. "Some exclusively, some as part of a balanced diet, most of the women we work with used to be guys only. That was back before they decided that gender mattered a whole hell of a lot less than the person inside"

"Thanks for the offer but I'm good" I smiled to let her know I was cool with it.

"No drama's, the offers good anytime, hell, you want a laugh you should come with us on a girls night out at The Intersection" At that I got an interested look.

"Yeah?" I grinned at her as I explained.

"Shit yeah, You should see the attention we get, Sharon, Alex, Brenda, Andrea, Maura, Olivia, Ana, Natalie, all of us together. Talk about honey to the bees, the girls swarm but none of them have a chance, but it's funny as fuck watching them" I said, drawing a head shake from her.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I have to keep flying the flag for straight women everywhere"

"Your loss" I said.

"Besides I'm a straight girl, I'm not sure I'd want to be hit on all night" Sykes stated.

"You wouldn't be the first straight girl I've taken there as a guest, so I'd look after you, keep your virtue intact" It was my turn to get the finger however before I could say anything the radio went off, Flynn's voice at the other end.

" _We lost him Chief, I don't think he was on to us but he ducked into an elevator and was gone before we could get in, he gave us the slip_ " Provenza's voice was heard, maybe angry or disgusted with himself, knowing Louis it was probably the latter.

" _That move looked pretty smooth, like he's done it a few times_ " he said, making me frown in thought before Brenda replied.

" _Right you are Lieutenant, keep looking, though I suspect is on his way_ " We exchanged a look during a few seconds pause before Sharon's voice came up.

" _Attention all teams, the suspect has managed to elude surveillance, please move in as close as practicable to your potential victim_ " I looked over at Sykes and exchanged an 'oh shit' look even as I acknowledged the call. She was already opening the door.

"That place has two entrances, I'll go round the back and watch that one; you stay here and cover the front" I nodded.

"Got it, good luck" I got a nervous smile.

"You too" With that she was gone as I settled in, waiting, watching and wondering.


	33. Chapter 33

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **33 Closing up**

Maura's Viewpoint

With Jane and Olivia pursuing their suspect in the illegal organ transplant case, Alexandra and Natalie were sitting quietly on our couches as we chatted, Anastasia with us while we waited.

While it was unlikely that the situation would end in violence, that was always a risk and I appreciated not only that Alexandra was here with me but that Natalie and Anastasia had chosen to be here to keep us company.

The conversation covered a wide range of topics, even as Anastasia checked in regularly with Jane and Olivia, keeping us abreast of what was happening. The news that Doctor Tremblay had eluded Lieutenants Provenza and Flynn was naturally concerning to us all. Over the next two and a half hours Jane was kind enough to keep us well informed of what was going on, ringing in as Olivia was otherwise engaged covering their potential victim's location from an alleyway across from the rear of the building they were keeping under surveillance.

To divert our attention from the evening's deplorable situation we were discussing the honeymoon arrangements Natalie and Anastasia had planned out; they had determined that they would be travelling through South East Asia, a part of the world neither had previously visited. They would spend a number of days in Singapore, experiencing the Lion City, before using it as a base to visit other places throughout the region for the remainder of the two weeks of their honeymoon.

The discussion reminded me that Jane and I had not really had a significant discussion regarding potential honeymoon destinations of our own. On one hand I would love to take Jane to Paris and share some of the sights of a city that was very dear to me, or perhaps explore a little of her Italian heritage, on the other perhaps there was somewhere Jane would prefer. As always we would come to an arrangement together, the destination did not matter, simply that we would be doing it together, married. I smiled at that thought and turned my attention back to where Natalie was speaking,

"Singapore's got some great sights, we want to see Marina Bay Sands and swim in the rooftop infinity pool they have with the amazing view, visit the resort island…what was its name Tsarina?" she asked.

"Sentosa Island" she supplied as Natalie nodded and smiled happily.

"Yeah, that's the one, it's full of resorts and hotels and restaurants and attractions like Universal Studios and Madame Tussaud's so that'll be a full day or two, plus there's the zoo, the separate night zoo, the shopping in Orchard, there's lots to do, and that's before we start visiting other places" she said.

"Where exactly, do you have anything particular in mind?" asked Alexandra. Both nodded as Anastasia answered.

"We'd like to visit Bali, that's supposed to be pretty laid back, at least away from the tourist traps up in the mountains, the ruins of Angkor Wat, see Bangkok and Hong Kong, they're the ones we've pencilled in already" Natalie nodded and chimed in.

"Yeah, it's going to be so good, two weeks away with no call outs and no worries" Alexandra was in total agreement with that.

"Oh yeah, that'd be so good, maybe I should marry Liv just for the two weeks away" We chuckled at her comment but any further response was cut off as Anastasia's cell started ringing, our attention on her as she answered it.

"Hi Jane, what's happening?" Her face tightened in response to what she was hearing. "Oh shit…yeah" She swung to look at us. "Yeah, we can do that" There was another pause. "Let Brenda know we're on it, we're moving now" With that she ended the call and addressed us. "Okay, there's been another murder, someone they didn't have under surveillance" She grimaced, something we all did at that terrible news. "The body was found by their boyfriend who called it in, the doc's long gone but it's definitely one of his jobs by the description the first uniforms on site reported" I felt the tension spike in my stomach, even as Alexandra and Natalie rose.

"What happens now Ana?" asked Alexandra as I nodded and Natalie spoke.

"Do they need us at the scene?" Anastasia shook her head.

"No, it's been some time, Tremblay's long gone, certainly back to his patient, we're actually way closer to that Cambridge Medical Institute of his than any of the other team members so they want me to get over there and take him into custody" She looked my way. "Grab your gear Maura, you're coming with me" I nodded, immediately understanding the reason, I moved to collect my coat and bag even as Anastasia explained the reasoning to the others. "Maura will need to get a DNA sample from the implanted liver before he closes up or we won't be able to get the evidence we need to tie him to the killing" They both nodded and joined me in getting their jackets and bags. Less than 30 seconds later and we were in her car on our way to the Cambridge Institute as a thought occurred to me, something I put into words.

"If you are to arrest him, we will need someone to safely finish the procedure in a timely manner" I saw her nod slowly as Natalie spoke up.

"I wonder if there's another specialist on there tonight?" I shook my head.

"Almost certainly not at this hour, I will therefore need to make a phone call" I pulled out my cell and, sorting through the address book, selected a number and placed a call. The call lasted barely over a minute, ending as we pulled up outside the Institute, fortunately at this time parking was not an issue. I looked to Anastasia and explained "As you heard, I have called for a surgeon to assist us, they will be here hopefully shortly" I got nods as we exited the car though Alexandra gave me a quizzical look.

"You just happen to have a surgeon on speed dial?"

"Isaac is an old friend" I stated and joined Anastasia as we made our way to the main entrance. The security guard on the front desk opened up the sealed doors for us when he saw Anastasia's badge. He was inclined to be less than helpful though, claiming he didn't know where Doctor Tremblay might be, that lasted barely a few seconds as he attracted Anastasia's ire.

"Special Agent Romanov, don't believe me? Take a good look at this badge mall cop, it says Bureau so you keep obstructing me and I'll take way too much pleasure in arresting you for obstruction of justice and possibly accessory after the fact in concealing a homicide" Alexandra stepped up right beside her, holding her own ID badge up as well.

"Deputy District Attorney Cabot, LA County District Attorney's office, once Special Agent Romanov here has arrested you I will personally prosecute you as a special project, by the time I'm finished with you the only place you'll be working, if you're not in jail making number plates that is, will be interstate, guarding empty warehouses in Podunk Indiana because I will be making a truly horrible example of you, understand?" He looked from one to the other then jerked as he saw Natalie filming it all on her cell.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Anastasia smiled coldly.

"She's LAPD, gathering evidence to support the arrest" Alexandra nodded.

"Evidence I'll gladly use to prosecute you" I stepped in and spoke.

"I am sure you have no desire to be arrested so perhaps you could direct us to where Doctor Tremblay is operating" I let my voice harden. "Now!" He looked from one of us to the next and the next, seeing us all there with determination in our eyes and capitulated.

"Follow me"

Shortly thereafter we found ourselves several floors away and looking through small glass inserts in the theatre doors into an operating theatre, seeing a team at work on a patient. I looked to Anastasia.

"We need to scrub" I looked around. "Natalie, will you assist Anastasia please?" I got a nod as I moved towards a cupboard and started looking for sterile clothing. Four doors later I found some and handed them to Natalie who started helping her into them as Alexandra watched us.

Two minutes later we were just about to enter the theatre when a familiar face arrived, guided in by the chastened security guard, drawing a very relieved smile from me at his arrival, Professor Levy was an old friend; he'd been a lecturer when I had been studying, before he chose to move back to surgery, having tired of pure academia. I had been very pleased to catch up with him not long after we had relocated to Los Angeles and we had kept in touch since.

"Professor Levy, thank you for coming so quickly" He nodded.

"I understand you needed me Maura, now could you please explain what exactly is going on here and why you need my help at such a late hour in the middle of the week?" I nodded and indicated my companions.

This is Special Agent Romanov of the FBI, Deputy District Attorney Cabot of the DA's office and Ms Dearing of the LAPD, we are here following a heinous crime" I indicated Isaac. "This is Professor Isaac Levy of the UCLA's Ronald Reagan medical faculty" There were nods before he brought us back to the crux of the matter.

"What crime?"

"There is a liver transplant currently underway, one where the organ being transplanted into the patient was illegally obtained" Before he could speak Anastasia provided additional context.

"The owner was murdered to supply it" she stated flatly, shaking Isaac visibly.

"My god…who…how?" he asked, as Anastasia cut to the heart of the matter.

"Martin Tremblay" she said, causing Isaac to scowl. "Cut it out of their still warm corpse" Isaac shook his head.

"I've heard of him, met him once or twice at conferences; attended a fund raising dinner party he held once for his private hospital, that sort of thing" I nodded and explained what was to happen.

"I need to retrieve a DNA sample of the donor organ before Doctor Tremblay closes up, I doubt he will acquiesce easily, which is why Agent Romanov is here, to ensure he does so. Once I have obtained a sample, I will require you to take over and complete the procedure" Isaac frowned at that, before he put his concerns into words.

"That is highly…irregular" I went to say something when Anastasia spoke up.

"So is what he's done, we think this is the fifth donor he's murdered" Isaac paled, then nodded, determination setting upon his features.

"I need to scrub" I looked to Natalie.

"Can you help Professor Levy glove and gown please?" She nodded; her medical training at college before abandoning medicine for journalism was proving useful tonight. I looked to Anastasia and nodded to the doors to theatre. "Shall we?" I got a nod in return.

"Yeah, let's do this" I turned and backed through the swinging doors to preserve sterility of my gloves, seeing Anastasia aping my moves. I noticed almost no one had noticed our arrival, something that immediately changed when Anastasia spoke.

"FBI, everyone can take a step back from the table" I quickly spoke up.

"Everyone except for the anaesthetist please" I interjected, getting a nod and a clarification.

"Everyone except him"

"Who the hell are you?" It was the surgeon, Tremblay I assumed.

"Special Agent Romanov, FBI, now step back from the body" When she saw him hesitate she reached under her scrubs and retrieved her weapon, displaying her pistol for emphasis. "That means you Tremblay, carefully put the knife down and step away" The man in question looked at the weapon in her hands and spoke.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, this is an operating theatre?"

"Yeah it is, but you're under arrest for the murder of at least four women and one man"

"What the hell" Her pistol came up, aimed at his face, her tone brooking no argument.

"Put the scalpel down and step back, I really don't want to fire in here with that guy's stomach sliced open, all that gunpowder residue won't be good for the wound sterility, but if you don't do what I say, well, let's hope he recovers or that'll be listed as a manslaughter charge against you, to go with the murder charges" Tremblay put the scalpel down with trembling fingers as Anastasia motioned him away from the table. "Keep going, back against the wall and turn around, hands laced behind your head"

Reluctantly he complied, Anastasia following him towards a wall as one of the other surgical team, a nurse, spoke up.

"I don't know what is going on here, but this is ridiculous" the nurse said, getting a terse response from Anastasia.

"Look doc, I don't care what you think, but Tremblay here is going down for a series of murders, you can cooperate or become an accessory after the fact, your choice" The nurse was uncertain, I could tell that from her eyes and the way they jumped from person to person as Anastasia holstered her weapon and pulled out handcuffs. As we watched she quickly and efficiently placed him in custody, even as the anaesthetist spoke from his position near the patient's head.

"We can't just stop in mid-procedure" Before I could reply another voice replied.

"No you're not" They turned to see Isaac standing in the doorway, gowned and gloved.

"Who are you?" asked the head nurse.

"Professor Isaac Levy, deputy head of the faculty of surgery at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Hospital" His eyes jumped from one team member to another. "I will be completing the procedure" There were nods and acknowledgements from the team as he stepped up. "At what point of the procedure are we?" The scrub nurse spoke up, her voice showing a little of the stunned surprise that must have enveloped the entire surgical team.

"Doctor Tremblay had just commenced implantation, some of the initial work has been done" Isaac walked forward and leaned in.

"Excellent" He looked to the scrub nurse. "Your name is?"

"Susan, Susan Whitman Doctor" He nodded.

"A pleasure to meet you Susan, before we begin, could you introduce the rest of the team" She did so as I watched however before they could recommence the procedure I stepped forward, an evidence container in hand.

"Pardon me Professor Levy; may I have permission to gather a sample for DNA testing?" He nodded.

"Of course Doctor" I nodded gratefully at him, moving forward and retrieving a scalpel from the scrub table then leaning in, cutting off a tiny piece of the organ.

"What the hell are you doing?" I placed the tissue sample in the appropriate sterile container, sealing it before I looked up at my interlocutor, the anaesthetist, placing the scalpel I had just used on the 'dirty' table.

"I am obtaining a DNA sample for forensics analysis, so that we may be able to identify the unfortunate donor of this organ" His eyes widened at that then replied.

"We were told it was a donor who deceased earlier this evening, and who left their organs for transplant" I shook my head.

"The donor did indeed die earlier tonight, at the hands of Doctor Tremblay, regrettably not the first such unwilling donor to die at his hands" I swabbed the area I had just cut with a DNA swab and then sealed the swab in its protective tube, preserving the sample. Looking up I nodded thankfully to Isaac

"Thank you Doctor, I am complete here, I leave the patient in your capable hands" He nodded at me.

"Doctor" He looked round the team. "Let us begin" I stepped away from the table to see Anastasia take Tremblay by the bicep.

"C'mon you, let's leave them to work, you're under arrest" Tremblay jerked at the words but Anastasia was unmoved and, spotting movement at the door, motioned him towards the exit. I saw Jane and Olivia, together with Lieutenant Gabriel and Sergeant Sanchez, standing outside the doors waiting for him. He looked around the room, perhaps realising that he would never see the inside of one again, at least as anything other than a patient, then spoke.

"I did it to preserve life" I regarded him coldly, anger springing to life at his words, his attempt to justify the unjustifiable. "That man will live because of my work"

"By callously ending another, tell me Doctor, which part of the Hippocratic Oath did you not understand?" I shook my head. "Instead choosing to enrich your bank account at the cost of a number of other people's lives, what gave you that right?" He seemed to stand a little taller, despite his posture from having his hands secured behind him.

"Those people were unimportant; of no consequence, I was saving lives that mattered!" I felt my anger turn to cold fury at the presumption, the sheer arrogance and sense of entitlement his words revealed.

"That is not your choice to make, you chose to ignore your duty to those around you and these upon whom you turned your attentions; did you forget the dictum _Primum non nocere_ or did you feel that you could ignore the precepts it enjoins upon you?" I shook my head. "You will have the rest of your life to rue the choices you have made, and the lives you have taken" I looked to Anastasia and spoke, the anger I was feeling course through me easily heard throughout the theatre as I noticed everyone, most particularly Professor Levy, watching the tableau play out.

"Please remove this blight on my profession from this place of healing; I fear he is defiling it with his foul presence" She nodded once and propelled him towards the doors and the waiting officers.

"C'mon doc, your fate awaits"


	34. Chapter 34

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **34 Cleaning up**

Jane's viewpoint

It had started off bad, but the week had wound down to a well-earned and very satisfying end.

While Tremblay, under orders from his high-priced lawyers, plural, hadn't said a peep since his arrest and was denying anything he'd said in the theatre when he'd been arrested, despite a collection of witnesses; the evidence against him was mounting rapidly. Maura had already tied the DNA from the liver sample taken from the surgery patient, a big-shot financier, to the most recent dead body in South Gate, so that was enough to convict him right then and there.

Interviewing the surgical team confirmed that Tremblay had arranged the surgery earlier that day, then walked in late that night with the liver in a transplant cooler box. He'd given them some BS about it being harvested from a motorcycle rider who'd been in a bad accident and had his life support switched off in another hospital.

None of us believed that for a second but Brenda, obviously wanting to make sure there could be no question about that in court, had the combined team contact every hospital in Southern California, confirming no such thing had happened. As she had put it, she wanted no seeds of doubt whatsoever planted in the jury's mind when the time came to send him to death row, where he could share cells with the WitSec killers, together with the rest of the psychos, savages and monsters in there.

Provenza and Flynn, stung by the fact a rank amateur had given them the slip that night had turned the hotel and its surveillance camera footage upside down looking for Tremblay's trail, finally locating footage showing Tremblay exiting the elevator two levels up and leaving the hotel across a footbridge to a multi-story car park across the street. They'd then gone through the car park's cameras and identified every vehicle leaving over the next 20 minutes. With a time of death of the victim, plus some educated guesses regarding how long it would take to complete the organ removal and get back to the car park, they'd then looked for a matching vehicle returning.

They'd spotted a nondescript black Chevy Tahoe leaving and arriving back in the right time frames then searched the car park, finding it parked in the long-term parking area. A quick check showed it was registered to the Cambridge Medical institute which had been enough to go to a judge. With a warrant in hand we'd got it open and searched it, finding several items of clothing carrying minute blood spatter, including a hoody, together with a backpack holding a number of cleaning rags, rubber gloves and a couple of scalpels and a serrated edge knife, the one he'd used to mess up the injury site. That all went straight to the lab for analysis though I was willing to bet real money that we had a blood match, something no one was willing to take me up on.

The Tahoe had been dusted for prints and we'd found Tremblay's all over the inside and outside of the doors, the door handles, wheel and stick, plus at a number of points throughout the car's rear. It looked like he got changed in the Tahoe, drove to the scene, carried out the murder then drove back to the car park, changing his clothes again before retracing his steps, collecting his Maserati from valet parking and leaving.

The kicker was surveillance footage at the valet desk showed him carrying a large bag, one big enough to hide a cooler box, when he collected his car from the valet. He hadn't had it with him when he'd dropped the sports car off earlier that night.

Sanchez and Sykes had interviewed the patient, apparently Tremblay haunted the transplant wards at a number of other hospitals, supposedly consulting, but in actual fact looking for rich patients who needed a transplant but were unable to find a match. He sold them some story that he had contacts overseas that could access other countries' organ donors, but it would cost a lot to make it happen. Faced with no alternative his rich patients had been happy to cough up the $750,000 cash to get a new liver.

He'd killed six people for less than $4 million, something I couldn't understand, he was already enjoying a life of luxury so why did he need to kill for money? I still couldn't understand it, maybe a shrink could, I was just happy he wasn't going to kill anyone else.

We'd had combined team drinks last night, this time without any issues from wayward CHiP's, which had led me to sleep in a bit. Maura of course had been up at 6 to do some yoga, meeting up with Nat for a hour-long session, they were trying to convince Alex to join them, though when she'd learned the time she'd been adamant, 6 am on Saturday morning was for sleeping, not stretching. I had no doubt they'd wear her down though, it was just a matter of time.

She'd got back before nine and we'd had breakfast before she had a shower, I'd washed up after breakfast and gone looking for her, finding her happily smiling as she sat at her desk in our office in her bath robe and slippers, her wet hair wrapped in a towel, I have to say she looked fresh and lovely, particularly so given the robe was a short one of light black silk, exposing her legs and clinging nicely to her delightful curves.

As I walked in she was reading some papers with a smile, something I commented on.

"What's brought that smile on baby?" Her smile widened as she indicated the neat pile of paper in front of her.

"I was going through the list of attendees and a surprising number of people I know will be in Los Angeles for the convention" I nodded and leaned in, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead before taking the seat at my desk and spinning to face her..

"Oh, anyone I know?" I got a shake of the head.

"That is unfortunately unlikely as many of the people I am referring to are medical examiners in cities across America" I nodded as she picked up her tablet and started reading. "Megan Hunt from Philadelphia, whom I have met at a number of conferences, she will be accompanying her superior, the head of Philadelphia's M.E. office, to the conference. Then there is Temperance Brennan, the head of the Forensic Sciences at the Jeffersonian Institute" I nodded at that name, I remembered her from a conversation that Maura and I'd had a while ago, besides Temperance wasn't a name you forgot in a hurry. Come to think of it she'd been in the Runway issue too.

"Professor Langstrom from Las Vegas will be here as will Lieutenant Bonasera from the New Orleans crime lab" She looked up and smiled. "This will be wonderful Jane; I have only corresponded with most of these individuals through email, so the opportunity to meet with them in person is a wonderful consequence of Los Angeles hosting LEAFCon"

I nodded, LEAFCon, or the North American Law Enforcement And Forensics Convention to give it its proper name, would bring cops and medical examiners from all over the country to LA for four days of events, it was promising to be a big bash and Maura had been a part part of the bid group and then heavily involved in the organising committee. Maura was still looking through the list.

"Doctor Danville from the NYPD Central Crime lab will be attending, unfortunately neither Doctor's Parish nor Warner from New York can join us, which is a terrible disappointment" I remembered hearing of Melinda Warner from Liv's favourable comments about her; she was apparently a good M.E. who handled the 16ths SVU cases. I didn't know who Doctor Parish was, but if Maura thought they were good they would be. "That is a shame; I was looking forward to getting reacquainted with both once more" I nodded slowly then spoke up.

"What about Susie and Riley?" I got a sad look and a shake of the head.

"I am afraid that Suzy has had her request to attend denied by Doctor Pike. When his request for accreditation was denied, he forbade her from attending" I frowned at that, Pike…. I remembered that incompetent idiot all too well.

"Vindictive prick" I got a rueful nod.

"I noted the absence of her name on the attendance list and spoke to her, finding that not only was she not able to come, Lieutenant Cavanagh had refused Detective Riley's request as well" My frown turned to a scowl.

"I'd kinda hoped that after Alex's call to Marquette during the trial Cavanagh would have been given the boot" Al had passed on Marquette's reaction to her call, raising our hopes but it seemed like Cavanagh had skated through, mostly unscathed, and kept his job. "Obviously no such luck" Maura nodded slowly.

"Yes, apparently he was subject to a reprimand and counselling, but there was little more that could be done" she said, making me sigh.

"I hope he doesn't know about Susie and Riley, given the shit he put me through, I just know he'd do anything to screw Riley over if he knew about them" Maura shook her head as she replied.

"I do not believe he is aware of their relationship, rather that he told Riley that they were too busy to let her attend what he described as a, and I quote, 'useless talkfest' for almost a week" I shook my head again slowly.

Maura had received a phone call from Susie the week after the trial had wrapped up, she and Riley had decided that as long as Cavanagh was in his job, they'd never be able to be happy, always concerned he'd find out about them and try and make their lives the misery that he'd done to me. To that end they were now looking at moving away from Boston permanently, someplace they could both work and be together.

They'd asked if Maura knew of any opening at the LAPD or if not, could she keep her eyes open for anything she might hear of. It was sad that the BPD would lose a good detective and criminologist not all that long after losing Maura and me, but that was the penalty they paid for putting incompetent, bigoted old farts in charge. Unfortunately Maura didn't have a slot in her team; it seemed that everyone here liked working under her. Also, because of the recent reorganisations of Major Crimes and Robbery / Homicide both teams were at full strength.

I know Maura had talked to Brenda about it and she was keeping an eye out for a vacancy in one of the homicide slots across the LAPD, plus Maura had reached out to her counterparts in the LA County Sherriff and the CHiP's about a criminologist position but so far nothing. All this mess because of Cavanagh, I shook my head and looked up at Maura.

"Y'know, some people seem to go through life being pricks and getting away with it" I didn't miss Maura's head tip and the expression she wore, grabbing my attention. "I know that look; you're up to something aren't you?" She favoured me with a sly smile, tinged with a hint of smugness.

"I may have conveyed my unhappiness regarding Lieutenant Cavanagh's abhorrent behaviour, both while we were in Boston and during the trial, to Governor Baker's chief of staff in a personal phone call. Kenneth was quite appalled by what had transpired, and that it played a major role in our leaving Boston; he immediately offered to look into the matter personally, before conveying what he had learned to the Governor" I smiled like it was Christmas.

"That's awesome Maur, Maybe Cavanagh will get what's coming to him, finally, not before time" I said, drawing a decisive nod from Maura.

"His behaviour has been not what is expected of a person occupying his position" I looked over at her fondly; she really was the best…

"I don't know what I can do to thank you…" I said honestly, getting a cheeky smile in return.

"I am sure I could come up with a few potential things you could…undertake to demonstrate your sincere appreciation" she sassed, then smiled. "Sooner rather than later perhaps" I leaned forward eagerly.

"How soon exactly?" She glanced towards the antique wall clock on the wall then back to me.

"Well, I have nothing pressing for the next two hours or so…" I felt my smile change to a grin. No one at work was aware that Maura Isles, under that polished, polite interior, was as much an insatiable lover as Nat and Alex. She liked sex, a lot, as often as possible, something I had absolutely no issues with whatsoever. That said it didn't mean that I couldn't tease her.

"But you just had a shower and you're all nice and clean?" I got a look that said she could see right through me.

"Then I suggest you will need to join me in the shower to ensure I get clean once again, once we are finished" she said. I made a show of nodding sagely; playing at being reluctant though we both knew that was a bald-faced lie

"Then I suppose we should head to the bedroom" The slightly smug look I got told me she knew exactly how much I wanted her.

"Come along darling, we have much to do and only two hours to do it" I happily followed her out and into the bedroom.

I have to say, there may be more enjoyable ways to spend two hours than making love to my fiancée, but if there are I don't want to know about them.


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N** This story is rated M for a reason, this chapter being one of them.

This chapter contains depictions of consenting adults doing what consenting adults do when they feel like it, so if sexual content isn't your thing, please skip the chapter and move on.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **35 The Weird Life**

Natalie's viewpoint

Life felt just a little bit weird at the moment, it had been since the trial wrapped up.

I'd had any number of cops quietly compliment me on what I'd said to the media at the trial's end, normally something about how it was nice to have someone who 'got them' telling media how it was. I usually just smiled and told them that it was a team effort, that as I was engaged to a law enforcement officer I was just getting the word out there for them as well and that it was both my job and my pleasure. I have to say though that it was nice to be recognised and appreciated, even if I was just doing what the job description stated.

A number of the female members of the LAPD also wanted to speak to me on a more personal topic; they'd sought me out as I was out and about across the department for work, each of them asking to speak with me for a moment or two. In each case they were either gay or bi and wanted to thank me for what I'd said to defend us in court. Many of them weren't out but they all wanted to say thanks, which was kinda nice. I hadn't intended to become some kind of gay icon, just hit back against the muck Peterson had been throwing, but apparently I'd struck a chord with plenty of other gay girls.

Most of the ones who weren't public with their sexuality, emboldened by our example, wanted to ask me if they should come out too. That wasn't an easy question with an easy answer. In each case I'd arranged to meet with them away from work where we'd have time to talk. It wasn't just with me either, sometimes Ana would be there, other times it might be Jane or Maura or Mikki, but each time it would be someone else with a different perspective.

We'd get together over a coffee someplace well off the beaten track, a couple of times it had been Alex or Andrea's office after working hours and they'd joined us as we talked through each person's story. For some of them it had been helping them to a decision they'd already pretty much come to, for others it was a long and sometimes wrenching discussion.

A couple of women, we'd ended up advising them not to come out, based on the information they gave us about the atmosphere they worked in and the attitude of the officers around them, it just wasn't going to be worth the hassle and harassment. That had been hard, given we were all out and well known to be so, but our circumstances were different from many, especially the younger officers.

In those cases we'd advised them to seek a transfer to another area, one that might be a little more accommodating. For those situations we'd brought in Brenda and Sharon and they'd promised to have a talk with Candace Morrell in HR, to make sure that Candace knew why the transfer request was coming through and asking her to make sure it went smoothly.

In a way I suppose we were kind of validating some of the criticism's that Peterson had leveled against us during the trial, about favouring gay female officers, but honestly some of these women's stories were heartbreaking, working with guys around them who saw lesbian's as either sexual fantasy material or felt they needed to be 'fucked back on to the straight and narrow' as one young patrol officer had reported both her partner and her desk sergeant had repeatedly said during the trial coverage of us, not knowing she was gay too.

Besides, it wasn't as if we were promoting them, just helping them get out from under some unpleasant circumstances and maybe assisting them to come to terms with their sexuality, plus it was kinda nice to be able to help out a sister when she needed a helping hand.

I'd actually floated the idea of setting up some kind of informal network of gay female cops, holding get-togethers every couple of months so people could meet up with other cops in the same boat. The LAPD already had informal networks for African-American officers, for female cops in general, Latino's, this would be just another one, open to any women in the LAPD, the selection criteria being pretty self-evident. Having heard some of the women's stories Brenda and Sharon had no issue with it, neither did Alex and Andrea, so we were getting things organised for an informal dinner at a low-key restaurant somewhere. Hopefully it'd help.

Two things brought home just how many people had heard about what I'd said, what we'd all said and done. A week or so after the trial had finished I was approached by a journalist I didn't know from the Los Angeles Times, they were reporting on a recent jump in harassment claims that involved lesbians and wanted my take on it. Surprised, I'd given the standard response that the law was the law and that it should apply to everyone equally, that everyone deserved to be treated equally and that how would a straight guy or girl like being hassled in an office full of gays for their sexuality? They wouldn't like it, that wasn't right and the same thing applied here as well, no one should be discriminated against because of their sexual choices or their partner's gender. That wasn't just the right thing to do, it was the law.

They'd thanked me for the quote and I'd pretty much forgotten about it until Andrea mentioned it in passing, she'd seen the article and my comment; I'd smiled and said I hoped it helped and we chatted about the issues for a bit, before I'd put it behind me. That had been the first one, then I'd gotten a call from KTTV Studio 11 news; they were after a similar quote on an issue involving two women who had submitted a claim that they'd been discriminated at work because they were involved with each other, that their boss was a homophobe who when he'd found out had blocked promotions and shunted them into dead end jobs.

I'd played it safe, emphasised I couldn't comment on the case's specifics because I didn't have all the facts then reiterated that discrimination because of age, gender, religion, nationality, political leanings, ethnic background and as alleged in this case, sexuality, was illegal. I'd said I hope that a full investigation gets to the bottom of the claim and either upheld it or didn't, but that the law applied equally to everyone here in California.

That seemed to have opened the gates and I was getting at least one or two requests for comment a week, I'd spoken to Pope about it and he'd eventually agreed that as long as I emphasised that I was speaking as a private citizen, not on behalf of the LAPD and said that the law applied to everyone equally, he was okay with it.

"Basically, don't say anything controversial that could paint the Department in a bad light" he'd said, by which he meant don't embarrass him. Disgusted, I'd just given him a filthy look that had made him squirm a little before changing the subject.

The kicker had been when I was interviewed by KNBC News, and instead of my name and title on the bottom, it had read 'Natalie Dearing, Lesbian Rights Expert'. I'd shaken my head at that and immediately arranged to see Alex and Andrea over lunch, explaining what had happened. In the end they'd agreed that they would be happy to be interviewed on the legal aspects of gay rights and I would steer media in their direction.

That had worked out okay and they were getting a regular series of requests for comment and interview, I'd also had requests to have Maura, Brenda, Jane, Sharon and Ana available for interview by various media organisations, apparently our nationally-televised trial had elevated all our profiles to the point that we'd become local go-to people for comment on lesbian issues. It certainly raised their profiles a bit, something that was not only part of my job, after all the good publicity reflected well on the Department, but also it was important to me personally, that my friends should be seen as the outstanding people they were.

What brought home just how much of an impact we'd had though was when we'd all gotten together and headed off to The Intersection the Saturday night the week after the trial had ended, we all needed to blow off some steam, even Sharon's legendary cool was a little brittle after that ordeal. It was the first time we'd all been out to a club since the trial started, given we'd agreed that we didn't want to give Peterson any more ammunition to use against us, I wouldn't have put it past him to try and get shots of us out on one of our usual nights and then spring them on us in court, in fact we'd skipped Club Night at the Intersection for precisely that reason.

So we'd gotten nicely dressed up, all five couples, and made our way down to the Intersection where Cletus and Aisling had been really happy to see us, making us feel really welcome, to the point that I'd been a little embarrassed, but that was nothing compared to what had happened when we'd walked inside. The DJ had stopped the music; the lights had come up as she announced our arrival in the club to cheers, describing us as 'the heroes of the LA lesbian community'. Maura and Alex had been poise personified but honestly I'd almost died with embarrassment but the girls there had cheered and applauded us as we'd bashfully waved and smiled before thankfully the DJ had started the music again and we could kinda relax, or so I thought. In fact the rest of the night had been a non-stop round of people wanting to talk, to thank us, wanting to buy us drinks; really it had all been a bit overwhelming.

It wasn't the usual attention either, we were used to the normal propositions and come-ons, but there was precious little of that, instead we'd had a string of people from all walks of life come and chat, they wanted to thank us, to talk about their experiences and generally share their gratitude for what we'd said and done. Honestly I didn't think we'd done all that much but that obviously wasn't the consensus amongst the clubs patrons.

The worst had been when a ridiculously cute young girl, who couldn't have been much past legal age to get into the club, had practically gushed over me, called me her new 'spirit animal' and told me she wanted to be me when she grew up. Fortunately Liv and Jane had come to my rescue and distracted her but honestly, I was having trouble dealing with this pseudo-celebrity, especially for doing something that was a combination of just doing my job and telling the truth.

It'd given me just a faint taste of the life that famous celebrities, actresses and singers had to deal with, something I'd had no real understanding of and making me more than a little sympathetic to their situation. I mean this was LA, you saw celebrities everywhere, last week Ana and I had spotted Scarlett Johansson in a jewellery store and Ann Hathaway walking out of a restaurant with a couple of other people. In that case she'd been asked to stop for a few selfies, ' _the 21_ _st_ _century autograph_ ' as Ana put it, so she'd paused, turned on a dazzling smile and, apparently happily, posed with a few awe-struck fans. Now having a slight experience of some of what they went through I had a lot more sympathy for their lives. At one point during the night Ruby Rose, the DJ and actress and some of her friends had stopped by to chat and I'd asked her about the whole celebrity thing. She'd smiled and shrugged.

"I'm kinda lucky, I don't get stopped in the street all that much, I'm no Kardashian, yeah at conventions and such I get it a lot, but there its part of the job, you do it as part of promoting your movie or your game, plus building and maintaining your brand"

"You don't mind?" Jane asked, getting a shrug from Ruby.

"Most people are pretty nice, usually really polite and given it costs me nothing but a few seconds and makes some fans really happy, so why not?" I'd nodded at that.

"I guess, it just seems a bit, I don't know, intrusive" I said.

"I get that, I couldn't handle the level of someone like a Taylor Swift or an Angelina Jollie, but what I get is kinda nice"

"How so?" Asked Mikki who'd been listening in quietly, taking it all in.

"Everyone has bad days, the 'don't want to get out of bed' days' right?" There were plenty of nods of agreement at that. "Let me tell you there's nothing to pick you up like a couple of nice kids coming up on the street and asking, all polite, calling me Miss Rose for gods sake, if they could have their picture taken with me, then have them tell me they love my music or a part I played in a movie" She winked at us. "It can really make your day" Her lovely smile widened. "Some of them are really, really cute too" As we'd chuckled at that she'd sniggered too then added. "You take your fun where you can"

That night we'd had so many people stop to chat, to take selfies with us, to thank us, it really left me unsettled, I mean I was no celebrity, none of us were; as Jane put it in the car on the way home, we worked for a living and there was nothing sexy about the majority of our jobs, something we'd all nodded at when she'd raised it.

It'd still bothered me though that I was being seen as some kind of lesbian icon or standard bearer, so I'd talked it over with Ana later that night, when we'd kinda worn ourselves out. Honestly nothing makes me happier than to have her come hard under my mouth, hearing her moaning my name before devolving into a screaming mess; that I could do this to such a beautiful, strong woman…it just made me love her all the more.

"What should I do?" She levered herself up enough so she could prop her head up on one elbow and regarded me in the dim light.

"Just run with it Blondie, be a level-headed, respectful, calm voice for lesbian's, god knows there are too many people screaming, on both sides of the issues" She'd smiled at me, soft and warm, drawing a smile from me in return before continuing. "Basically be the voice of reason, arguing that we all deserve to be treated equally on the basis of our worth, not who we take to bed" Her smile changed, becoming a little wicked in the bedroom's soft light. "Speaking of which, you good to go again?"

I returned her smile and nodded.

"Always" A few seconds later and I had her up on her hands and knees, me kneeling behind her as I took in the amazing sight in front of me for a moment, all that hard training and sparring with Jane had turned her body into a mouth-wateringly delicious sight, one that still took my breath away a bit. Ana pulled her hair off to one side and looked back over the other shoulder, she went to say something then paused; maybe she'd seen something in my expression because instead of a snarky remark she spoke softly.

"I'm all yours love" I nodded for a few seconds as I felt my love well up then spoke.

"That you are" I smiled and snuggled up against her, her butt resting against my breasts before I dragged them forward, knowing she'd feel my nipples dragging across her skin. "Time to show you why" I slid back and positioned myself behind her, seeing her wet and waiting and wanting for me, before leaning forward and dragging my tongue up the length of her, gathering her delectable wetness on my tongue and lips even as her back arched, her head went back and her long, low moan filled the room.

"God yesssssss, oh yeahhhhh" I smiled to myself and repeated the process back down, dragging my tongue all the way down before flicking over the nub standing there proudly, bringing a shudder from her and a low moan. "Oh fuck…." I pulled my head away for a second to speak.

"Gladly" I smiled, then set to work.

When we'd both worn ourselves out, almost half an hour later I happily snuggled up close, tucking my head under her chin and sighing, a combination of tired and satiated and happy. Ana must have heard it, or maybe felt it, as she spoke softly.

"Thank you Mrs Romanov" I felt a goofy smile break out at that as I snuggled even closer to her. We'd occasionally tease each other about the upcoming wedding, though we'd long ago agreed that she would be taking the Dearing name, as she'd put it; "You're my family now, I want to be a Dearing too".

"You're welcome, Mrs Dearing"

I felt as much as heard her gentle laugh as I drifted off, a tired but happy smile on my face.


	36. Chapter 36

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **36** **The Farm Visit**

Olivia's viewpoint

If there was a place farthest from New York, I think I'd found it. Cheyenne in Wyoming was everything NYC wasn't; flat, low, wide open and full of farms.

Nat and Ana had insisted we come with them for the weekend, 'to submerge in home and family' as Nat put it. I'd wanted to object, but Jane just looked at me and shook her head slowly.

"Liv, just go with the flow on this, trust me" I'd frowned and let it drop at the time but cornering her later I'd asked what was going on. She'd just smiled a bit and leaned back against the bench in the kitchen. "Liv, I kinda felt the same way before we visited, but Nat's family are pretty amazing, I can see now why she turned out the way she did. Maura loves it out there, she's never really told me what Christie said to her but she can't wait to go back" She shrugged and continued. "It feels a lot like family there" I frowned.

"Alex is my family, you know that" Jane nodded.

"Yep, and me and mine are Maura's, 'specially given her parents don't approve of us being together, but there's something about Peter and Christie, Nat's parents, that make their place feel like being home" She shrugged. "Besides, Alex and Maura have already agreed, so it's not like we have a choice" I grimaced.

"Whipped, I swear, if I didn't love her…" Jane just nodded, a rueful smile breaking through.

"Yeah, I know" She shrugged. "Besides, they want you to meet their parents before we head out there again for the wedding, so…" She let it die off as I nodded. Nat and Ana would be getting married in Wyoming and they wanted us there so we we're be heading out into flyover country, no dodging it.

That had been three weeks ago, now here I was, somewhere in the middle of the endless Mid-west farm belt. Looking around, once we got away from Denver with the Rockies close, everything was flat; the sky seemed enormous, reaching from one distant, empty horizon to the other. It was pretty overwhelming for a kid from New York, all that vast, open, empty ground.

In the terminal we were met by two people I recognised from a Skype chat last Christmas and photos at Nat and Ana's place, Natalie's dad Peter; late 50s, tall, fit and tanned, blue eyes and blonde hair with a few early streaks of silver, the other was her sister Lauren. Even if I hadn't seen her picture I'd have known; way too similar in looks to Natalie, the same thick blonde hair, clear blue eyes, she was an inch or so taller than Nat even, as gorgeous as her sister.

Natalie threw herself into her father's arms as Ana hugged Lauren tight, both babbling delighted greetings before swapping partners, as Jane and Maura stood there, smiles on their faces, while Alex and I exchanged a glance. Finally they came up for air long enough to talk.

"I didn't know you'd be here…" It was Natalie. "…how come you made it?" Lauren smiled.

"When I spoke to mom and she told me, I had to be here, so I took some time off, got in yesterday and wanted it to be a surprise" Natalie and Lauren exchanged another hug as Ana grinned.

Meanwhile her father had dragged Maura into a hug, not quite as bone crushing as the one he'd given the others, but pretty close. I was surprised to see him kiss her cheek and her do the same as she smiled happily. I glanced at Alex to see her holding herself very still, that look she has in the courtroom when she's just been surprised by the defence but doesn't want to show it.

Maura stepped back as he turned, pulling Jane into a hug as well, maybe that was what they did instead of handshakes out here? Meanwhile Lauren was doing the same to Maura, then standing back holding her at arm's length, looking her over.

"Jeans Maura, I swear we're a bad influence" Maura just smiled.

"I believe the saying is when in Rome…" She smiled, obviously pleased at remembering the aphorism. Nat turned to face us.

"Dad, Lauren, these are our friends Alex and Olivia" I braced for a hug but instead he reached out his hand as I found myself appraised by a set of clear blue eyes.

"It's a pleasure to me you both. We've heard a lot about you both…" He nodded at Ana and Natalie. "…from these chatterboxes" His hand was work-roughened and warm, a lot of strength there but his handshake was gentle. Turning he looked Alex over then ran his eyes over me before speaking. "I don't know what they're putting in the water these days but it's turning out beautiful women" He smiled at Alex's blush as they shook hands. Lauren smiled as we shook hands too; she really was beautiful, just like her sister.

"Welcome to Denver, you're going to love it out here" She turned and smiled at Alex as they shook hands. "You need to keep an eye on her..." She nodded in my direction. "She's gonna turn heads, well you both are" I could feel my cheeks warm as Alex's blush deepened. Before we could reply Peter rescued us, laughing.

"Stop embarrassing our visitor's girl. C'mon, let's get your bags and head on home; there's food waiting for us"

We ended up splitting up, with Ana, Maura and Jane in one SUV driven by Peter while Lauren drove Natalie and us in another for the hour plus drive across the state border to their place.

As we drove out of the Denver suburbs and up the CanAm Highway, the feeling of open space grew even more evident as the mountains visible in the distance fell away, the highway stretching out to the horizon behind and in front of us, with only some trees and power lines to break the clear line where sky met ground. I actually found it a little intimidating to be honest; I'd always been a child of the city, this much wide open empty space felt oppressive, as ridiculous as it sounded, I could feel it weighing down on me.

Lauren and Natalie chattered away, happily dragging us along in their conversation; apparently Lauren was a physical therapist, working with veterans who'd been injured, many of them in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Based in Washington DC, she casually mentioned she'd seen us on television during the trial and thanked Alex for defending gay people, especially gay girls, in the courtroom. It seemed like Alex's work had really made an impact far and wide.

We'd barely crossed the Wyoming border when we'd followed the other SUV and turned off the highway onto a secondary road, then onto another which had wound between large farms, lots of cattle and horses, though there were also a lot of wind turbines, something I hadn't really expected. Turning off the road into a long gravel driveway we'd driven between fenced paddocks full of cows and pulled up in front of a well-maintained and surprisingly large old-style wooden house. Getting out of the car we found a blonde woman waiting for us, older but still lovely, you could easily see the resemblance, plus where Nat and Lauren's looks had come from.

She was immediately engulfed in hugs and kisses from Nat and Ana, it went on for a few seconds with whispered words all round before she disentangled herself from the crush and held her arms out to Maura.

"Come here dear one, it's been too long" Maura quickly stepped up to the porch and was engulfed in the same loving hug that Nat and Ana had just received. Finally it ended and she turned to Jane. "It's lovely to see you again Jane" They exchanged a smile before Christie held her arms out. "Oh come here you" Jane's smile widened as she stepped forward and another round of hugs, only slightly less crushing than the previous ones, ensued before Jane stepped back, smiling a little shyly, getting a sly grin from Christie before she turned her eyes on us.

"You must be Olivia and Alex" I nodded as Alex spoke up.

"It's lovely to meet you Mrs Dearing" She got a mock scolding.

"Don't you Mrs Dearing me young lady, that's for old folks" she held her arms wide. "Come here Alex" Alex stepped forward and got wrapped in a slightly less enthusiastic hug, but only by degree, Christie whispered something in Alex's ear that made her smile and let her go as they smiled at each other before she turned to me.

"And this has to be Olivia" I got a lovely warm smile and before I knew it I was wrapped in a 'mom' hug, all warmth and back rubs and comfort. "It's so good to see you Olivia, I've heard so many wonderful things about you" I could feel my cheeks warm slightly and stepped back.

"That's Nat, she can't help embellishing everything with her PR spin" At my comment I got a sceptical look.

"Perhaps" She smiled and shrugged. "Perhaps not" She looked to her three daughters and husband. "Get our guest's bags inside please, there's coffee and hot apple pie waiting in the kitchen, the sooner everything's settled the sooner we get to it" I went to help but Christie shook her head.

"No dear one, that's their job, you're our guests so I'll show you your room, the bathroom, that sort of thing, then we can catch up with them in the kitchen" She ushered us and Maura and Jane inside into what was a warm, homey house, one that felt like something from a family television show, plenty of rooms, plenty of space, lots of pictures of Nat and Lauren growing up, plus more recent ones, I spotted a candid one of a younger Nat interviewing someone on camera, another of Lauren, surrounded by a group of men and women in military uniforms, and there were a few obviously recent ones of Ana too.

On one wall in the main hall I saw a collection of three portrait shots, one of Nat in a LAPD Air Wing jacket and LAPD ball cap smiling at the camera, a formal portrait of Ana from her Army days looking older than her years in a full dress army uniform, her hair in a tight bun and medals on her chest. Next to it was a shot of Lauren in a medical white coat with her name on the breast above the Johns Hopkins Crest, all in all it looked like a house owned by proud parents. One in the family room above the fireplace was obviously new, it showed Nat, Ana and Lauren grouped around Maura and Jane, all warmly rugged up outside in the light of a fire; they were all smiling, relaxed and cheerful.

We were shown our room, complete with big double bed piled high with doona's and covers and pillows, window looking out over the fields; the pot-belly combustion heater in one corner of the room attesting to how cold it got in winter here, then into a bathroom with a shower, an old-fashioned claw foot bath and a huge assortment of towels folded and waiting as Christie explained that while the house had plenty of bedrooms, one doing double duty as her and Peter's offices and another as a library, there were fewer bathrooms so we'd be sharing one with Jane and Maura.

We were then led into a large and welcoming kitchen, the room filled with the smell of fresh-baked blueberry pie, I couldn't help it, my mouth started watering at the aroma, looking to Alex I saw her surreptitiously licking her lips and swallowing. Christie must have noticed as she started laughing.

"Now that's exactly the response a cook wants to see. Help me get the coffee mugs and plates set out and as soon as the other's get here we'll get started" she directed as I noticed a high end coffee machine on a bench top off to one side, Christie must have seen me as she explained. "That's a present from Ana and Nat, they've turned into quite the coffee snobs nowadays" She grinned. "Wouldn't be caught dead drinking instant coffee these days" I smiled as Alex spoke up.

"Nothing wrong with good coffee" Christie cast a side eye her way from where she was pulling a large apple pie out of the oven, sending even more mouth-watering aroma's through the kitchen.

"So you know how to drive the contraption Alex?" Alex nodded, getting a smile. "In that case if you don't mind, I've switched it on but it needs to be prepared and I don't normally use it" She shrugged. "Normally Ana is the one driving it but if you'd like to get it going…" Alex and Maura exchanged a look and smiled before Alex replied.

"Sure" They headed over to the high-end espresso machine and got it up and running as happy voices filtered in from down the hall, shortly after footsteps announced the Dearing clan as they piled into the kitchen, Nat already speaking.

"Oh yeah, pie!" she was already making a bee line for the pie with a happy smile on her face when her mom spoke up.

"Oh no you don't young lady, see to our guests first" Nat threw her mom a filthy look and stuck her tongue out, unfortunately Christie saw it. "Just for that, you get the last piece" That got smiles and sniggers from everyone else as Lauren pulled a big bowl of whipped cream out of the refrigerator and headed for the table, even as Ana drifted over to the coffee machine, joining the barista's there, they soon had a production line running and coffees being handed out as Christie expertly sliced up servings of blueberry pie for Nat and Lauren to dish out.

For a few minutes there wasn't much talking, just appreciative noises as we ate what turned out to be really great, old-fashioned home-made blueberry pie with fluffy pastry, lashings of rich whipped cream and good quality coffee. I had to say, it was worth all that endless sky and openness to sit down to something like this, good food, good company and a feeling of home. Watching Christie and Peter with Nat, Lauren and Ana, I have to say I felt a little twinge of jealousy, this was the sort of home I'd wanted to have when I was growing up, full of laughter and happiness and love.

Alex must have noticed it, she reached out and laid her hand on mine, grabbing my attention, the warm smile she turned on me soothing me, no matter what my past, this was my perfect present, she was perfect and I was perfectly happy here with her.

It turned out the pie was substitute for lunch, with us scheduled to have a big dinner. In the meantime Nat, Maura and Alex had gone riding with Lauren while Jane and Ana had gone shopping with Christie for some extra veggies and other stuff for tonight's dinner, apparently Peter had meat slow roasting on a rotisserie over a fire pit all day, leaving me at a bit of a loose end, I didn't ride, not horses anyway. I'd offered to go shopping but Peter had asked me for a hand so I followed him out of the house and into one of several barns scattered around the house where he didn't beat around the bush.

"I understand you like classic cars Olivia?" he asked as I nodded agreeably.

"Yep, bought a 65 Mustang convertible years ago, don't get to drive it as much as I'd like in New York's traffic" I said, drawing a nod.

"Only been there once myself. I was in the Wyoming Air National Guard. Got called up for Desert Shield back in 1990, shipped out for Saudi Arabia and did the whole Desert Storm op. On the way home we came back though the east coast and had two days transit leave so a few of us went to visit New York" He said then shrugged. "Did the tourist thing, place felt a bit like a disturbed ants nest to be honest" I smiled, not a bad description actually, especially for someone from out here.

"Anything you did like?" My question drew a wide smile.

"Yep, looking down those big long streets lined with skyscrapers, I finally got to see how Spiderman could work, you really could get everywhere swinging from high buildings" I had to laugh, that wasn't the answer I'd expected at all. He grinned at me, before turning into the rest of the barn.

"Given I heard you like classic cars I thought you might like these" He led me towards two mounds covered by sheets. At his gesture we pulled the sheet back on the first mound together, revealing a small creamy-white sports car. Stepping back I saw the wire spoke wheels, definitely an old English car, maybe from the 60s. Walking round the rear I smiled at the Jaguar badge.

"Nice" He smiled.

"1959 E Type Jaguar" He ran his hands over the paint, walking towards the front. As I followed him I could see the car was minus the right hand side wheels and looking inside some of the interior was missing. Peter lifted the long hood, showing a partially assembled engine. At my raised eyebrow he smiled. "It's actually rebuilt from two badly damaged donors, it's a gift for Lauren's 30th birthday" I nodded, leaning on the car and inspecting the engine bay, smiling; it may have been in pieces but every part there gleamed like new, looking closely at the body you couldn't see any sign of where one car ended and the other started.

"All your work?" He nodded as he explained.

"Pretty much, except for the body rebuild, I got a buddy in town to do that for me, it's not something I'm comfortable doing but Tony's an artist at it. I restored Natalie's MGB for her birthday, only fair that I do the same for Lauren" He smiled. "Have a look at this one" He led me to the second, smaller sheet-covered lump, which turned out to be an original 1960s or 70s Mini, also partially restored. I looked up and smiled.

"A present for Ana?" He returned my smile and nodded.

"Hopefully it'll be finished for her 35th" I wandered around the little blue Mini, seeing the Cooper S badge on the trunk, the spotlight-laden bars across the front, it too was partially restored.

"That's a damned nice pair of birthday presents" He turned to look at me.

"When we started turning more and more of the farm over to the wind energy people we had to scale back some of the farming we were doing" He shrugged. "I had time on my hands and this keeps me busy" He turned and walked over to a workbench, bending over to open a small bar fridge, digging out two beer bottles before walking back to me and handing one over. We twisted open the tops and tapped our bottles together before taking a sip. I smiled at the taste; it was nice though I didn't recognize the label. Peter smiled as he saw me frowning at the bottle. "A micro-brewery here in Cheyenne makes them, not bad eh?"

"Not bad at all" I said, we stood there for a moment before he spoke again, indicating the Mini with the hand holding the bottle.

"The Jag's worth a lot more but this one has a bit of a pedigree, it's one of the backup stunt cars they used for the original Michael Caine movie the Italian Job" I nodded, I remembered that movie, it was a true classic; Peter saw my nod and smiled as he continued. "It was brought to the US to promote the movie and ended up in the hands of a collector" He shrugged. "When he died it passed through a few hands before it turned up in a deceased estate auction about two years ago. I watch the auction notices online and decided to make the trip down to Texas where I crawled all over it" He grinned at me, obviously pleased as punch at the story. "I checked the car's serial number and realised what it was, so I was prepared to push hard on the bidding" He winked. "The auction house hadn't done all their homework; they had it as a Mini Cooper S, a classic but not famous, with a lot of the mechanicals badly rusted and corroded, plus most of the bidding interest was in a couple of beautiful Ferrari's so I was able to get it for an almost reasonable price" I smiled at his good work.

"Nice one" He nodded.

"I had to hire a trailer to get it back here from Texas, then there was a hell of a lot of work needed to get it to the point the engine would turn over, plus a lot of the parts needed to be sourced, some couldn't be found for love or money here in the States, well not at anything like a reasonable price and bringing in the parts from England was a quick way to go broke, what with postage costs from there, so a friend of mine in town machined replacements" He shrugged. "It won't win car competitions as it's not completely original and genuine, but Ana will be getting a car that's reliable, goes round corners like it's on rails and that's as fast as a scalded cat"

At his wave we wandered over to the car and he lifted the hood to look into the Mini's engine bay. I saw it was spotlessly clean but still obviously needed work, as he looked up at me and spoke.

"You work on your Mustang or just drive her?" I shrugged.

"Work on her when I can, don't have as much time as I used to" He looked at me for a moment and then smiled.

"I've got a couple of jobs a second pair of hands would help with" He raised his eyebrows at me. "Not exactly something I can ask Ana to help me with, you up for it?" I thought about it for all of two seconds.

"Sure"

The next few hours passed quickly as we worked on getting the gearbox of the Mini in place. Peter turned out to be a good listener; he seemed to just encourage you to tell him anything, never pushing, occasionally asking a question to keep the conversation going. Before you knew it we were both elbow deep in grease in the Mini's engine bay as we talked about all sorts of things, his history, mine, how he'd met Christie, how I'd met Alex, stories about Lauren and Natalie growing up which led to him asking and me telling him about growing up. I guessed that he'd heard some of my back story from Nat and Ana so I told him the truth, at which point he'd stopped working, just resting on the bodywork and listening. I looked up but there was no judgment there, just compassion. With a nod he stepped away after I'd finished, wiped his hands and wandered back with two more beers, opening one and handing it to me as he spoke.

"Olivia, I find it hard to comprehend a mother not desperately loving her daughter, I understand the issues with how you were born, but you weren't responsible" I swallowed at his words, spoken without rancor or judgment or pity.

"She didn't see it that way" I eventually said, drawing a nod.

"Like I said, I don't understand it, but everyone's different" He shrugged. "From all that the girls have told me about you, you're one hell of a person, they speak very, very highly of you" I looked up at him but he was looking into the Jag's engine bay as he continued. "Nat and Ana both have excellent judgment, I trust them implicitly and all they're telling me is that you're someone anyone would be proud to call their daughter" I tried to speak, but there was a sudden lump in my throat. Peter must have seen it and nodded slowly, taking a sip from his bottle then continuing. "Olivia, I have three daughters, two we raised and one we kinda adopted after her dad died, with Christie they are the most important things in my life, all I care is that they're happy"

"They are that, well Nat and Ana" I shrugged. "Can't say about Lauren" He smiled, a little lopsidedly.

"Lauren will be, she just needs to find the right person and settle down, same as Nat has" I tipped my head at that comment, thinking back to Lauren's comment in the car, thanking Al for defending gay girls.

"You'd be happy if she brought home a girl too?" He shrugged.

"If she was the right person, treated her right and made her happy, I would be" He looked at me. "One of my relatives asked about that, said it meant no grandkids, but I'd already had that talk with the girls, they set me straight that being gay didn't mean no kids and I was happy to do the same for my cousin" I smiled, a little wistfully.

"Not everyone's so accepting about their daughter being with a woman" He nodded slowly.

"Like Maura's parents, Alex's too I understand" At my sharp look he smiled. "Nat and Ana care about you, they were not real happy about the idea that a mother or a father wouldn't love their kid, especially about who they loved" He shook his head as I smiled; his daughter and her partner were great people, looks like they had good parents too.

"They're good friends" He nodded slowly.

"I'd be disappointed if they weren't, that's not how they were raised" He shrugged. "They all turned out okay, better than okay in fact. Olivia, I could not possibly be prouder of my daughters"

"You're lucky" He nodded.

"That I am" He looked my way. "In a way I'm super lucky, I have three daughters now and Ana's just like Lauren and Nat" He stood up from leaning on the Jag's fender and stretched back, obviously his back was a bit tight. He groaned a little as he bent way, way back then gave a little half smile, obviously that had helped, before he looked back at me. "Ana's dad and I talked a lot, on the phone and via email after they got together. He was concerned about his daughter, not about being with Natalie, just making sure that if anything happened to him that we'd look after her" He looked at me. "I wanted the same thing in case something happened to me and Christie" He took a pull on his beer. "I never actually met Tim in the flesh but he was a good father" He shrugged gently. "Look at the daughter he raised…anyway we agreed that for all intents and purposes we both had three daughters and that we'd treat all of them as our own flesh and blood" I nodded as he stood there watching me.

"So that's how I ended up with three daughters" I nodded and took another sip of the beer, it was nice, but I could tell it had plenty of alcoholic content so I was pacing myself then spoke up.

"Looking forward to the wedding obviously" He threw me a grin.

"Heck yeah, about time they stopped messing about and made it official" he said. "Christie's excited as anything" He glanced my way. "She was also excited to meet you and Alex, she'd heard so many good things about you both, first from the girls and later from Maura and Jane" I smiled, a little embarrassed.

"I hope we lived up to the hype" I pulled a face. "Mind you it is Nat, she can't help putting her PR gloss on everything" Peter just looked at me and smiled, slowly shaking his head, until, at my questioning look, he explained.

"In all the years that my daughters have been living away from here, they've only brought five people home. Natalie brought Anastasia home after they got together, seeing how happy they were, how good they were for each other, we had no problem accepting her"

"I'm surprised, I mean wasn't it hard, seeing her with a woman?" I asked, he pulled a face at the memory then replied.

"Initially Christie and I were surprised, but once we got over ourselves, well we could see how good they were together, how happy they were, at the end of the day that's all we could possibly ask for, that our daughters are happy" I nodded, thinking about how lucky they were to have parents like them, even as he continued. "The only other people they've brought home are Maura and Jane and now you and Alex" He smiled. "Looks like they have good instincts…and better friends" I looked down into the engine bay as I felt my cheeks warm a little, even as he continued.

"It's like Maura's parents, them not accepting her and Jane together" He shook his head slowly as I looked up at him, not surprised that they'd told him all about that, he'd just proved that with me; he'd been able to draw all sorts of things out of me simply with a gentle word and a soft, encouraging smile. Peter might have made a good therapist; god knows he knew how to listen as well as give good advice. "I cannot understand a parent turning away from their daughter for being happy. God knows seeing Nat and Ana happy is one of the great joys of my life, Christie's too" I nodded slowly.

"I know what you mean, Alex's parent's didn't approve of us being together either" I shrugged. "They had plans for their daughter that didn't include me"

"I can kinda understand that, if it was like Maura, her parents had some expectations about marrying the right person, from the right slice of high society then turn into a baby factory, all the while being quietly miserable doing it" I glanced at him sharply, that had been a very…informed comment, drawing a shrug. "Christie is very fond of Maura, and it sounds like her and Alex were supposed to have the same destiny, until fate stepped in"

"Al discovered she was gay young, then spent most of her life hiding it, I think it was a relief when she didn't have to hide it anymore" He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, Ana's told me a little about being gay in the military in the age of don't ask, don't tell" He pulled a face. "The military's a very traditional place, makes sense I guess, so they don't change all that quick, and gay soldiers are still seen as an issue" He looked over at me. "Can't help when the bulk of the military's made up of macho alpha male warriors"

"From what I understand she was making it work, at least till she had to walk away and even then she made Major in spite of everything" I commented.

"Point, but she was happier out than in after everything that happened" He shrugged. "Not that she's complaining, that experience with the army is the basis for who and what she is today" He smiled. "The Bureau's a little more forgiving to gay women" I nodded.

"The NYPD and the LAPD too" I smiled. "Plus Al works with another DA and she's gay too"

"That'd be the other DA during the trial?" I nodded and he continued. "Yeah, saw her, she and Alex did a damned good job, despite everything that happened" I looked down into the engine bay, seeing thee gearbox now firmly seated in place and bolted in, a nice piece of work well done, if I say so myself.

"Yeah, happy to see that all behind them"

"I understand, it must have been hard for the others, to have people come after them, to want to hurt them, something I understand you're not unfamiliar with either" I looked up, wondering how the hell he knew about that. He must have seen the question in my eyes because he held his hand up. "Jane and Ana told me, they're awfully proud of their best friend, that's she's someone who'll do anything for the one they love, just like them" I played it down.

"It was him or me, well me and Alex" He nodded slowly then reached out his bottle towards me in invitation, I tapped mine and he spoke.

"To protecting the ones we love" I nodded and we sipped our beers for a moment, we stood there for a few seconds, in the quiet barn, before he spoke again.

"We would love to have you back out here again" He shrugged slightly. "Like I said Christie's very fond of Maura and think's Jane is great, I've no doubt that by the end of this weekend she will have much the same opinion of you both too, based on everything we've heard and seen" I flushed a little at that even as he continued.

You'll always have a place here Olivia. Now I know you and Alex have a life of your own in New York and now LA and I understand that, but a small part of that life can be here in Wyoming. Christie and I would be honored to know that you would feel comfortable visiting us whenever you want" I wasn't sure how to take that, so I bought some time.

"Thank you, that's really kind, especially when you don't really know us" He turned that down straight off.

"Like I said, Natalie and Ana have excellent judgment, Lauren too; most of that comes from Christie; she's always been really good with people. Christie thinks you're both wonderful and wonderful friends to our daughters, so that kinda makes it unanimous amongst the Dearing women" He leaned back and regarded me as he continued. "Now let me tell you a little something I've learned over the years Olivia; when it comes to arguments, I don't win too many with Christie and I sure as hell ain't going up against all four of them, not on something they consider important" He took a sip of his beer then looked over at me.

"They all consider you and Alex very, very important"


	37. Chapter 37

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **37 Lunch Guests**

Richard Castle's viewpoint

The drive through the suburbs of Los Angeles was a lot more pleasant this time round. The first and only time Kate and I had been to LA together was a few years ago when we'd travelled there to investigate the murder of her old friend and mentor Mike Royce, it'd worked out in the end but had been a difficult trip for both of us. This time round we were both looking forward to a very different experience.

It was a good thing we'd had plenty of notice about this party, Kate had needed to take herself off the call out roster and we'd spent Friday afternoon at her desk in the 12th Precinct desperately praying that a body wouldn't drop before she clocked off at five. We must've been good as the phones stayed quiet, letting us head out to waves from the rest of the team, both of us just glad to have a weekend away from death and misery, bound for JFK and the early evening flight to LA.

We'd got in late and slept in late, it'd been a full week and we needed the break. After a lazy morning spent fooling around together in bed and then in the shower we'd got ready and headed out to the place that Olivia and Alex were staying at, it belonged to my old friend, the author James Patterson; he'd loaned it to them when I'd asked, temporary accommodation for Liv and Alex when they had relocated to LA a few months back.

They'd stayed there for a month and then arranged to lease it at market rates for another few months while they found a place of their own. Patterson had told me he hadn't minded, having his house rented by a cop and a prosecutor meant it was well looked after, plus they were always accommodating when he'd needed to visit, happy to put him up. He'd also confided over our regular writer's poker game earlier this month that not only was his house in good hands, the eye candy had been spectacular. One weekend he'd been there for a book tour, waking up late on Sunday morning to find half a dozen beautiful women arrayed around the pool as Alex and Liv had their friends over for lunch. He said it felt like the Playboy mansion, though any thought that they were bimbo's hadn't survived the introductions.

If anything, when he found they were all law enforcement he'd been even more impressed, he'd been sure that Kate was a flash in the pan, that there couldn't be other cops that looked like that out there. He'd been happy to be disabused of that notion, especially after sitting down for a while and chatting to Maura Isles and Alex Cabot. I was pretty sure he'd been looking for inspiration for a future book and they were both pretty inspirational. The fact that his wife Susan liked them was just an added bonus.

Now though our rented Porsche convertible, red of course, carried us through the suburbs then up parallel to the Pacific before we turned right off the coast highway and into the hills behind Eastern Malibu northwest of the city, where the compounds overlooked the Pacific Ocean, winding past high fences and closed gates as Kate navigated. We pulled up at the right gate and Alex had happily answered the intercom, buzzing the gate open for us and directing us to park in front of what turned out to be a surprisingly large Spanish-style house that seemed to have been built to take best advantage of the view. There was a diverse range of cars already parked there; from Benz's to Toyota's with plenty of unmarked cop cars, obviously the party was in full swing.

As we walked up to the door, I looked Kate over; we'd been explicitly told the dress code was very casual, mostly as we'd be spending a lot of the afternoon in the pool. Kate was wearing runners, denim shorts and a red polo shirt over a blue bikini but had wondered if she was being too casual. I on the other hand was a believer in casual and comfortable whenever possible, so I'd teamed a loose dark blue mostly-buttoned cotton shirt, sleeves partly rolled up, with tan shorts and sandals, hopefully we'd fit in fine.

The door opened as we approached and Olivia and Alex stood there, looking lovely, tanned, relaxed and happy, both of them as dressed down as we were which was a relief; Liv barefoot in an oversized blue tee shirt marked 'Property of the NYPD' and jean shorts and Alex in a peach polo teamed with cream Capri pants and ballet flats. We each got warm hugs and kisses before they led us through Patterson's massive house.

He'd told me he'd picked it up for a good price as an investment from some top studio executive who'd lost his job during a corporate reshuffle, I don't know how much he'd paid but however much it was, he'd got a bargain. Alex was explaining it as we walked through.

"Eight bedrooms each with an en-suite bathroom and walk in, more bathrooms downstairs including one down in the garage and another out by the pool, a twenty-car underground garage, parking for even more out front as you saw, a private cinema for twenty, a games room, billiards and pool room, library, a top of the line gym, a massive wine cellar, study, formal and informal dining and lounge areas, several offices, a huge patio, a private garden big enough for a massive party on its own, this place has it all" I looked round at the furnishings and huge rooms and found myself agreeing. Liv nodded.

"It's actually a bit intimidating with just the two of us, the place is so damned big we kinda rattle round in here" Kate looked round, a little wide eyed, before glancing at me.

"I thought your place in the Hampton's was big Castle, but this place is amazing" Liv just chuckled.

"If you think that's good, wait till you see the formal area" I raised an eyebrow but they both just smiled, before throwing open the doors to a room that was bigger than my entire loft with a dining table that could seat at least twenty, That wasn't what drew a gasp from both of us though; one entire curved wall was nothing but floor to ceiling glass, giving a spectacular view over the ocean and the beach side suburbs.

"Oh my god" It was Kate, standing there with wide eyes and a stunned expression on her face though I was no better. Alex chuckled softly.

Yeah, that was our first reaction too. It's pretty impressive at night too, the lights look amazing" Liv turned to take us in.

"You walk in sometimes, even after being here for a while and it just kinda hits you. I don't think I could ever get tired of the view here" At her words Kate looked over at them.

"Are you going to miss this place?" she said. Liv nodded slowly.

"Not the size, but the view, the peace and quiet, yeah, that's going to be hard to leave behind" Alex nodded as well.

"It was a great place to come to, when we first arrived, this place was such a break from New York. We owe you and Mr Patterson both for this" I laughed.

"That's not how he sees it, he told me you guys are paying a fair rental and he knew it was in good hands" Alex just smiled.

"Well, this place is wasted with just the two of us here; it really deserves to be used for parties all the time. Speaking of which, let's get out to everyone. We've congregated around the kitchen" I smiled at them as I spoke.

"Let me guess, big kitchen?" I asked, getting an eye roll from Alex and an answer from Liv.

"You have no idea"

Shortly after I found myself whistling, she was right, the kitchen would have been right at home in any high-end restaurant, all massive marble benches and stainless steel German appliances.

It was also busy, with several people working away in the kitchen proper while the rest had been banished to the other side of a truly massive island bench where they were busy socialising.

I stopped by the bench and looked round, seeing a few familiar faces there, Maura Isles and Anastasia Romanov were working in the kitchen and both came over to give us a welcoming hug. They were busy cooking, together with an older, dark-haired woman who was still gorgeous despite an age I'd put in the very late-forties or early-fifties. She looked us over and smiled politely.

"Hi, I'm Sharon" I smiled and turned to include Kate.

"Kate Beckett and Richard Castle" She nodded, taking us both in, her smile widening.

"Ah, the friends from New York" We nodded as we shook hands. I looked round and smiled even wider. The aromas in the kitchen were something else.

"How can I help?" I found myself being appraised by a set of deep green eyes.

"I'm not sure; do you know your way around a kitchen Mr Castle?" I smiled easily, something about all of this felt easy and relaxed.

"It's Rick and yeah, I do ok" She smiled and turned, indicating the working side of the kitchen.

"Feel free to jump in" I shared a smile with Kate as I handed the wine cooler off to her with a kiss and looked towards the cooking areas.

"Something smells fabulous, what's cooking?" Sharon smiled widely.

"Maura's doing her divine lasagne plus a tortellini dish, both apparently to Jane's mother's traditional recipe. Ana's got linguini in clam sauce and fettuccini carbonara cooking while I'm doing spinach and ricotta ravioli and tuna risotto" she explained, I smiled as Kate laughed then spoke up.

"Who needs to go to Italy when we have food this good here?" I nodded as my eyes roved the bench and stove-tops.

"If it tastes half as good as it smells then it was worth the trip just for the food" I stated, Sharon chuckling happily at the praise as Maura and Anastasia looked up and smiled. "Now what can I do to help?"

"Can you please keep an eye on the ravioli and the risotto while I take a look at the cannoli?" she said, drawing a smile from me.

"Of course" I got another quick kiss from Kate before she headed off to where Liv was standing, leaving me to the cooking, not that I minded to be honest, I like cooking, I love Italian food and it all looked and smelled wonderful. For the next twenty minutes the four of us worked side by side, happily chatting about recipes and ingredients; I love to cook; Kate constantly complains that I'm fattening her up so no one else will look at her; something that always makes me laugh. Kate will always be stunning, no matter what and people will always look, no matter what.

Unfortunately, her love of food doesn't extend to actually cooking much, as the temple of Styrofoam take-out containers I found in her fridge the first time I'd visited her place had proven. Since then I'd made it my mission to ensure she eats better, given the stress of the job she eats too much take-out for my liking.

I'd chatted to both Maura Isles and Anastasia Romanov before, back in New York and gathered that they both liked to cook, but seeing their work, smelling it and surreptitiously sneaking a taste confirmed that they were both very good at it. Their friend Sharon, she wasn't any slouch in the kitchen stakes either, her ravioli and risotto were both to die for, plus the canolli looked mouth watering, I was only sorry we hadn't arranged to arrive earlier so I could cook up something special too.

I was exchanging recipie suggestions with Sharon when a willowy blonde with sparkling brown eyes and a generous mouth just made for smiling wandered into the kitchen, sliding an arm around Sharon and snuggling in. She looked over and smiled; her voice a soft southern lilt.

"Hi, I'm Brenda" She held her hand out and we shook. This would be Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, confirming my assumption that Sharon was Commander Sharon Raydor. We'd heard about them of course, both Liv and Alex had nothing but good things to say about them both, which was as good a recommendation as anyone could ask for, plus I'd recognised them from the TV coverage of the trial a few weeks back.

"Hi, I'm Rick" She smiled.

"That would be Rick Castle?" I sketched a small bow.

"That would be me"

"I have to say Mr Castle..." I smiled as I interrupted.

"Please, just Rick" She smiled happily.

"Well then, just Rick" she teased… "Liv and Alex have been really looking forward to your visit, its good you made it" I smiled happily at them both.

"And miss this cooking? Perish the thought" I said, making Brenda look to her partner and grin.

"I have to say I'd travel a long way for Maura's or Ana's cooking too, add in Sharon here and well, it's definitely worth the trip"

"Do you cook Brenda?" The laugh I got from her was a joy as Sharon chuckled as well. Finally she subsided.

"I'm sorry; I'm pretty much a danger to life and limb in a kitchen, mine or anyone else's. Someone who shall remain nameless…" She shot a fond look at Sharon. "…claims I have an altogether unhealthy dependency on take-out. Given the amount of take-out containers that occasionally found their way into my fridge back when I was single she may be right" I smiled happily.

"Sounds like someone else I know" I glanced over to where Kate and Liv were happily catching up, each wearing a broad smile. Brenda followed my gaze.

"Is that your partner over there, Kate?" I looked back over to see the love of my life casually chatting to Olivia, her expression telling me everything I needed to know, she was happy, relaxed and having fun.

"Indeed it is" Brenda nodded and looked back to me.

"When I found out you were coming, I looked up you, there's plenty of material, as you'd expect for a best-selling author" I nodded gently in acknowledgement as Brenda arched an eyebrow at me. "Stealing a police horse and riding around Central Park naked?" I looked a little sheepish, that was not me, not anymore.

"In my defence I was much younger then" I said, a little ruefully, Sharon laughing at that.

"Weren't we all" she said as Brenda smiled at us both.

"But Detective Beckett, a very impressive record, more so in the time you've been working with her I have to say" I deflected the attention to Kate, she was the one who deserves it after all.

"Kate is extraordinary; I just tag along as the comic relief and coffee delivery boy" Sharon narrowed her eyes at me.

"Really, that's apparently not the story that Kate's told Liv" I tried not to let what she'd said affect me, though I made a mental note to chase down what they'd discussed, later, for now I contented myself with a shrug as I replied.

"She's the one who deserves the credit; I just follow her around and use her for inspiration for Nikki Heat" I was suddenly aware that both women were looking at me, really looking.

These weren't just two attractive older women, they were both very experienced senior cops and would probably be very intimidating in an interrogation; god knows I'd seen enough of that in recent years to know. I'd seen Kate at work and had no doubt both of the women in front of me would be formidable, especially Brenda, apparently she'd been a CIA-trained interrogator before joining the police. I didn't know all that much about Sharon Raydor, but Brenda Leigh Johnson was another story; she was something special, with a string of high profile cases closed behind her.

She might look casual, relaxed and lovely here in flip flops, denim shorts and a tied shirt covering a black bikini top that showed off a still-nice figure, her hair up in a ponytail, but she'd put enough high profile murderers, serial killers, corrupt cops and gang bangers behind bars to be worthy of my respect. Brenda's eyes narrowed for a moment, before she smiled.

"Perhaps we might convince her to stay here in LA" She shrugged. "Given how good she is, I'd be happy to have her in my squad" Before I could say anything Sharon gave her a playful elbow in the ribs.

"No Brenda, you're not allowed to poach any more detectives from the east, especially not gorgeous ones. You know what they call your squad already, adding Kate would just make it worse" she said as I looked between them, wondering about the joke.

"Oh? More?" At my question Sharon just laughed as Brenda playfully rolled her eyes. Finally Brenda mock frowned at Sharon before turning to me and smirking.

"Well, we managed to convince Jane and Maura to stay after their secondment, then we got Liv and Alex out here on secondment and I hope they'll stay too, they're both great additions to the team. My squad also includes Mikki Mendoza over there" She nodded towards a striking Latino woman chatting with Natalie Dearing and another blonde who I recognised from the trial, she'd been the other prosecutor, Andrea someone I recalled. "So Major Crimes has three attractive female detectives and works closely with the department's medical examiner, FBI liaison, media manager and two of LAs top Deputy District Attorney's, all of whom just happen to be attractive women"

I recalled some of the slurs the defence in the WitSec case had thrown their way; it seemed as if there might have been a kernel of truth in some of the claims about Brenda's team. Sharon nodded at her lover's words then glanced at me as she replied.

"Hence the term Amazon squad" she said, drawing a smile from Brenda at the description, before looking back at me.

"That's when their being polite. I've heard a few less complimentary names, especially given we have a number of gay members, but after we sorted out a few particularly obnoxious specimens, most people keep their opinions to themselves" Sharon shrugged as she replied.

"Unfortunately too many male cops have a juvenile sense of humour" Brenda looked back at Sharon and smiled as I chuckled in agreement then replied.

"Well Brenda, given both beauty and brains seems to be essential prerequisites for your squad I can see how Kate would fit right in, but I kind of like my muse with me in New York, plus given you've already stolen one of the NYPDs best detectives and a top prosecutor, they might be a bit annoyed if you stole Kate too" Sharon smirked as she turned to wave a finger at Brenda in an admonishing gesture.

"Listen to the man Brenda, he's right. You can only poach one east coast cop a year and Liv's this year's quota" Brenda pulled a face at her, before breaking out in chuckles.

"You're probably right sweetie, so no offer to Kate this year. Next year however..." I raised my eyebrow before we laughed together, Brenda and Sharon seemed good people and I knew both Alex and Liv liked them a lot. Sharon smiled and looked to me.

"Brenda could probably find room for a 'civilian consultant' if we needed to" she said with a teasing glance at her lover. I have to say the idea was an intriguing one, if only for a second, before I shook my head.

"Like Sharon said, only one NYPD detective per year" She sighed a little wistfully.

"Pity, from what Liv and Alex tell me she's damned good at her job" I smiled over at where Kate was laughing with Liv and Alex.

"You won't get an argument from me" I said. With food almost ready we bustled around getting everything plated and onto a couple of heated trolleys then moved everything into the dining room where people could serve themselves at the table. We chased everyone into the dining room and got them seated, good red and white wine available, before we started helping ourselves. For a minute or two it was quiet chaos before everyone settled into enjoying lunch.

Coming up for air from what was absolutely delicious linguini and fettuccini, I looked around. Kate sat to my left flanked by Ana with Natalie beyond, while I had a striking African-American woman named Amy Sykes next to me, apparently she was part of Sharon's team, as was the smaller Asian woman next to her, Lucy Kwang.

With the initial rush of the meal slowing conversations started around the table, I chatted to Amy and Lucy as Kate chatted to Ana, then responded to a question from across the table from Brenda, asking about her career. The rest of the dinner was really pleasant, good food, good people and good conversation, with plenty of happy stories, including the almost obligatory one about how Kate and I met; the answer, 'she arrested me' getting a good laugh.

The lunch wrapped up with the cannelloni followed by really good Italian style coffee, apparently Ana, Maura and Alex all knew a thing or two about running an espresso machine and soon had a production line running, as we ended up sitting around drinking coffee and chatting..

After everyone turned to and helped clean up and stack the multiple dishwashers; I have to say this place was built to host big parties, we ended up wandering about the house for a while, just taking it all in before ending up back in the dining room, looking out over the ocean. I stood for a moment, looking out over the amazing view, just soaking it in when I saw Kate step up next to me. I could tell she was happy and relaxed; something that always makes me smile.

"Hey Castle, having fun?" I smiled gently.

"Always and you look like you are too" She nodded slowly, eyes on the view. I saw movement out on the level below as Natalie and Ana walked out, both in flattering swimsuits, an extraordinarily tempting view in its own right, even before Ana started spreading lotion across Natalie's back. That reminded me.

"Kate, is it a prerequisite that you have to be gorgeous and gay to be here?" She gave me that teasing smile I'd grown very, very fond of.

"Why Castle, feeling a tiny bit intimidated are we?" I shrugged, smiling as Mikki Mendoza walked past, two glasses in her hand, she nodded and smiled back before walking up to the woman I'd been introduced to as her partner Andrea Hobbs, and handing a drink across, my earlier recollection had been right, she was a Deputy District Attorney who had worked with Alex on the trial. I turned my attention back to Kate.

"I feel like I'm the sole standard bearer for testosterone here" Kate's grin was quick and wicked, her voice teasing.

"Don't worry Castle, I'm sure half the women here have you beat on that score too, besides, I always thought you had a feminine side, so you fit in amongst a room full of girls"

"Thank you so much Detective Beckett. Anyway, who said you were the guy in this relationship" Her eyes danced as she smiled that teasing smile, the one I love.

"Well I am the one with the gun, badge and handcuffs…" I rolled my eyes, though I couldn't help the smile.

"Something I am painfully aware of" I got a gentle shoulder to shoulder nudge at that.

"Oh stop complaining Castle, besides, you don't seem to mind when I'm the one cuffing you, in the bedroom at least" she said, drawing a smirk from me as I heard the humour in her voice.

"Apples Beckett, remember my safe word" Her laugh was quick and light and I loved hearing it.

"Oh Castle, where's the fun in that" I threw her a mock-leer.

"The fun, my delightful detective, is getting a whole pile of photos of this afternoon. Can you imagine the looks on Ryan and Esposito's faces when they see who we spent our weekend with?" I got a mock scowl from Beckett, before she smirked, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.

"Should be good for a little payback" I nodded, Espo in particular had been a little cocky lately on the back of a couple of dates with an Instagram model, so we'd agreed he needed to be taken down a peg or two. I saw Brenda and Sharon walking out onto the patio in swimsuits, sharing a laugh with Maura and Jane, despite their age they really were very attractive, well worth a second look, even in a pool party with people like Natalie, Alex, Maura and Kate.

"Brenda and Sharon weren't quite what I was expecting in the LAPDs two most senior female cops" I said as Kate nodded slowly, making a little Jedi gesture.

"These are not the senior officers you're looking for" I flicked a quick grin at Kate, lots of people saw different facets of Kate, but only I got to see the geeky side of her and I loved it, she only let it show when we were alone and she was happy, another reason to look forward to seeing it. She made another Jedi gesture. "You can go about your business, move along" I chuckled and shook my head before looking down at the pool area which was filling up, Kate following my eyes down to the pool deck.

"You being a pervert again Castle?" I smiled at Kate's sly tone.

"Just admiring all the beautiful women here Kate, you fit in perfectly" She ducked her head, I could tell she was a little embarrassed by my honest praise, for all her looks and accomplishments Kate remains modest, she really didn't see herself the way I did.

"Yeah well, I'm looking forward to hitting the pool; I can work on my tan" I swallowed as I remembered Kate working on her tan at my place back in the Hamptons, the memory stirring a few delightful memories. It wasn't the only thing stirring either, which reminded me…

"Um, I probably won't be joining you there Kate" She looked across at me, one eyebrow lifting.

"What, why not?" she asked.

"Um, it's just that I'm surrounded by a whole gallery of women almost as pretty as you, in bikinis, watching you in a bikini. I may have a few wardrobe malfunction issues to deal with" Her chuckle was low and throaty as she leaned in.

"Need some help with that Castle?" I gave her a smirk and a come-on.

"Why detective, are you offering?" Kate took it in her stride.

"I might be able to take matters in hand, but on the other hand you'd be more than ready for me later" I gulped.

"Not helping Beckett" I was trying for stern but it didn't quite come out that way, something that amused the hell out of Kate as she smiled at me, that gorgeous little smile she saves just for me.

"Don't worry Rick, I'll look after you"

"I'll hold you to that detective, amongst other things" She shrugged.

"It won't be the only thing I'll be holding…" she sassed, making me smile as she continued. "Besides, given most of the people here are gay I doubt they'd care, Lucy Kwang's apparently married with two kids and I think the only other straight one here is Amy Sykes" I remembered the striking woman who'd sat next to me, then made a joke about it.

"Sounds like you're more in danger here than I, after all it's obvious all these gay girls have an eye for a beautiful woman…" I got an eye roll at that, followed by a smile.

"Then I'll just have to rely on you to keep reminding me why I'm straight and why it's not in my interest to fall prey to their advances"

We shared a smile before wandering over to chat to Mikki and Andrea for a while, then headed down with them to hit the pool; as it turned out we wore ourselves out with all sorts of dumb horseplay, including an 'everyone pile on Liv' wrestling match that didn't go so well for us, that woman was super strong and slippery as an eel, what with all that wrestling training, before Kate and I ended up intermittently dozing on adjacent sun lounges, idly taking part in the back and forth banter, something that was a lot of fun

Dinner was a relaxed affair, plenty of salad and cold cuts, a perfect match to the afternoon as we mingled happily. Unfortunately Lucy Kwang had to leave; her husband had been watching the kids and as he had to fly up to Sacramento tonight for a work-sponsored charity golf day tomorrow, she headed off to a chorus of well-wishes.

I'd noticed Amy Sykes had been looking a bit down and maybe drinking a little more than she should and I wasn't the only one to notice, Sharon and Liv chatting to her in the kitchen. Apparently whatever they'd said had worked because she ended up staying the night, something that hadn't been on our agenda either, until Alex had told us we might as well stay, they had plenty of bedrooms and it meant we didn't have to drive all the way back to our hotel late at night. Truth be told I was kinda glad not to, it meant I could relax a little, something Kate agreed with.

Alex showed both us and Amy to the bedrooms we'd have for the night, I have to say it was bigger than the suite in the hotel we were staying at with a bed that had to be a king size, it was that big.

Heading back down we messed about for another couple of hours, including playing pool and then snooker on their full competition-sized table for a while; I'd learned the game in England years before, as had Brenda, Ana and Alex. Finally we called it quit pretty late, heading to bed.

We'd had a quick shower to get the chlorine out of our hair and off our skin, drying each other off and climbing onto that massive bed. We'd snuggled in close, just happy to be together, idly chatting.

"I'm really glad we got to be here Castle, this was fun" I nodded. I rarely got to see Kate as relaxed and happy as she'd been here today, without all the cares and stress and the chance of a call out she'd been more rested than I'd seen in a while, add in a day of fun with our friends, well she'd smiled more easily than I'd seen in a while and looked years younger than the kick-ass detective persona she showed the rest of the world.

"We have to do this again, soon" I got a nod and a happy smile.

"That'd be fun" Anything I was going to say was cut off by the low moan from the bedroom next door, I don't know who was in there but they were obviously wasting no time, even as I got a snigger from Kate. "Someone's in a hurry" I raised an eyebrow and gave her a smile.

"Can't say I blame them" That drew a wider smile as I continued. "And you did say you'd take things in hand tonight" I got a slow, considering nod.

"That I did" Her hand slid down my body and grasped a rapidly hardening piece of my anatomy. "Now whatever will I do with this?" she mused. I gasped as she ran her fingers teasingly over the head, concentrating my mind wonderfully.

"I'm sure you'll think of something" I said as I leaned in for a hot, wet kiss.

And she did.


	38. Chapter 38

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **38 Sykes Lost**

Amy Sykes' viewpoint

The invite to Liv Benson's place up in Malibu had been a bit of a surprise, but a nice one. Lucy had got an invite too, so it looked like the women from both teams would be there, though Kyra Jefferies from our team couldn't make it, she was in San Diego this weekend for a friend's wedding.

The place turned out to be freaking awesome, I mean its Malibu, you expect impressive but this place was totally next level, like something out of a movie, maybe lifestyles of the rich and shameless I guess. I'd gathered that Cabot was worth a lot, just rumours I'd heard, but this place kinda confirmed it, though apparently they were renting, not owning, not that it mattered, the rent must be a not-so-small fortune a month.

I got a quick walk through by Liv, basically she showing me the place and me walking around with my eyes wide open, this place was just jaw-droppingly huge, ending in the kitchen where part of the group were cooking Italian while the rest socialised, sending the best smells floating through the place, it made me hungry just being there.

I chatted to a bunch of people as we circulated, the way you do at these sort of things, chatting and mingling, most of the discussion with people who weren't part of the inner circle; Rizzoli, Benson and Romanov and their partners, was how huge this place was and how blown away by this amazing house we were, well Sharon wasn't and neither was the Chief, either they'd been here before or they just didn't show it the way we did.

At one point I got to talk to an out-of-towner, a homicide detective from New York named Beckett, she explained that she was a former partner of Benson's back in the day and they'd stayed friends. They'd apparently also worked on a case together a few months back, a tough one. She and her boyfriend, a writer named Rick Castle had made the trip out from New York for the weekend, making me guess that she and Benson had been close; I mean it was a hell of a trip for lunch. I didn't know who Castle was until Andrea Hobbs mentioned he was a New York Times bestselling author, apparently some of his best sellers were about a character he'd based on Beckett. Andrea offered to lend me some of them; apparently he'd got a lot of the whole cop thing down pretty accurate, at least according to Mikki, I suppose his girlfriend saw to that.

Lunch was as good as it smelled; the Italian food was amazing and the conversation pretty good too. I ended up sitting between Lucy and Castle at that massive dining table, he turned out to be interesting and amusing company; he had a storyteller's gift, happy to tell stories, including some that made him look dumb; obviously he didn't mind. That said, his girlfriend was gorgeous, you could tell they were really into each other, he had a daughter he was proud as hell about and given he was apparently rich off all those millions of books he'd sold, it wasn't like he had to prove anything to anyone.

Watching the dynamic around the table was interesting too. It was obvious that there was some prior history between Beckett and the three primary couples; they all seemed pretty relaxed and happy in each other's company. Hobbs and Cabot were obviously comfortable with each other as well; they spent a lot of time ribbing each other, mostly about cases, though I didn't think Liv Benson and Mikki Mendoza were quite as close as their partners.

After lunch we sat around for a while eating cannoli and drinking really top-notch coffee, I'd watched as Cabot, Isles and Romanov worked side by side at the espresso machine like some grand prix pit crew, the coffees flew out without a wasted move or a spill anywhere, it made me smile, I didn't know about Romanov and Dearing but it was kind of an open secret that Cabot and Isles were both really rich, yet here they were, more than happily playing barista buddies for the rest of us…it was interesting.

After we'd finished up and everybody had helped load up the dishwashers, as in three of them, all huge, they looked like the sort of thing you'd have in a restaurant, we'd drifted out to the huge pool in the back so I'd taken the chance to have a look around. The view from the grounds over the top of the property's walls and out over the Pacific was pretty spectacular, the lawns were manicured, flower beds everywhere, the tennis court was perfect, the whole place looked like a set off a movie, Crazy Rich Californians maybe.

The pool was huge and surrounded by loungers, perfect to lay around on when you weren't in getting wet. We ended up in the pool with a bit of horseplay, including half a dozen of us trying to dunk Benson, not all that successfully, turned out that woman was goddamned strong plus she had some serious moves, you think you had her and she'd turn it around, next thing you were holding water and she was gone. It seemed she was super fit, I mean you could easily see the muscle definition there given she was wearing a one-piece, plus I found out that she'd done a lot of Greco-Roman wrestling training, it sure was paying off here.

I'd ended up laying around on and off, kinda taking part in the conversation, people watching mostly. I had to say Castle was nice eye candy, especially amongst a sea of pretty women. Enough muscle definition to suggest he worked out, probably lifted weights based on his arms, but not so much he looked like a cartoon character. His partner, Beckett, she was as pretty as the rest, gorgeous even, though I noticed she had a couple of nasty scars, one between her breasts, the other on her left side under the arm. I didn't ask but the chest one sure looked like a bullet wound. I pulled out my phone and did some googling; it turns out Beckett's history was a damn sight more complex than I'd thought, and that wound really was from a bullet, from a sniper in fact, while the one under her arm was from where the surgeons had saved her life on the table.

As I looked around I was struck by a few things. Not just that almost all the women here were gay, well except Lucy me and Beckett, but they were all really pretty too. Even the Chief, Hobbs and Sharon were nice to look at, even if they were a bit older than everyone else here. It also struck me that I was the only single here. So I got to watch as all the other couples fooled around, nothing too raunchy, just PDAs, reminding me that I'd ended it with my on-again, off-again boyfriend two weeks back. It hadn't been going anywhere; he'd just wanted the sex, same as me, but lately even that had been getting a bit rote and by the numbers, it had almost become an obligation, it sure wasn't fun anymore so why even do it?

I was enjoying the afternoon though, the day was hot; the company good and all the wines were pretty nice. One thing I was glad of though, I'd spent plenty of time in the gym over the last couple of years, I liked being fit, plus it was a bonus for the job we did, now though I was glad I was in really good shape because the women around me were all pretty enough to be a bit intimidating. Benson was obviously strong and fit, Romanov and Rizzoli were all lean muscle and definition, their partners all flattered their bikinis and one pieces while Andrea, Sharon and the Chief were all in good shape, especially for their ages. Both Beckett and Mendoza were also slim and obviously fit so I was glad that I could wear my favourite yellow bikini and not look out of place amongst all the pretty women.

I was enjoying the afternoon, while trying not to let the whole single thing get to me. I was also enjoying the wine, probably a little much, enough so that the Commander and Cabot cornered me in the kitchen at one point.

"Amy, I'd like you to stay here tonight, rather than driving" I frowned at what Cabot was suggesting.

"I should be okay" Sharon shook her head gently.

"It's not worth the risk, the winding roads and the Pacific Coast Highway can be a bad drive at the best of times" I wasn't sure so I tried to back out gracefully, I didn't want them thinking I was a drunk.

"It's okay; I don't want to impose…" That cut no ice with Cabot.

"You're most definitely not" she said. "We have eight bedrooms for heaven's sake, so you're more than welcome to stay the night" She shrugged. "I'm going to suggest the same to Kate and Rick too" She looked at me with those blue eyes. "I'd rather you stay here tonight and head home in the morning, than have you go tonight, I couldn't live with myself if something happened when it didn't have to" I was going to refuse when Sharon spoke up.

"I think it would be a good idea Amy, as Alex said, the roads aren't the best and the LA County Sheriff does patrol the area" she smiled. "Besides it's not something you could badge your way out of anyway" I could tell that this was why Alex had Sharon here for the discussion, I might have said no to her, but not to my boss. I tried to put a good face on it and agree with some grace.

"That'd be really nice; if you're sure I'm not imposing…?" I got a happy smile.

"Of course not, let me show you to your room" Following her along the corridor it turned out 'my room' was a suite that's almost the size of my whole apartment. Alex showed me where the towels and toiletries were; honestly I've stayed at hotels that were less well stocked than this bathroom, before we wandered back to the pool.

Returning to the party I have to say I was having a good time, I had a chance to catch up with Ana Romanov, we were both ex-Army vets, I was in Iraq at around the same time as Ana, though I was in the north, up near Kurdistan and Ana was operating in and around Baghdad. We got to exchange some war stories and for a while Natalie Dearing came and sat with us, just snuggled up to Ana and listening quietly while we talked.

Eventually Ana got snagged to help dish up dinner, cold cuts and a bunch of different salads, coleslaw, potato salad, you name it, honestly the food here was great, no complaints at all. I was sitting there eating and talking to Andrea when I noticed that as the sun was going down the couples here were getting a little closer, nothing too explicit, just lots of PDAs.

As I watched, the Chief snagged the Commander with one arm and backed her up against the wall for a quick make out session, leaving them both smiling and happy. On one hand I was happy for them; on the other I was kinda sad that they have each other whereas I was the loser single all alone here. There was also a little embarrassment catching them kissing, but I told myself that they're not doing anything wrong, it's just kissing, even if it was my boss.

The rest of the night passed pleasantly, drinks, some games of pool and that English version, Billiards, it was a good time, even if was a little discomforted by the increasingly overt PDAs, nothing too raunchy, just that they were reminders that I'm the single here and they're not.

Brenda sitting back between Sharon's thighs on a deckchair, Sharon's arms wrapped round her as she rests her chin on Brenda's shoulder, Mikki and Andrea kissing on the step of the pool, Olivia standing between Alex's legs where she was sitting on the bench top in the kitchen, arms around each other, kissing slowly.

Watching Maura held high in Jane's arms, the blonde's legs wrapped around Jane's waist as they laughed without a care in the world, Jane slowly turning circles in the pool oblivious to the rest of the world as they lost themselves in each other, seeing Natalie and Ana lying on a lounger by the pool, Natalie spooning Ana, her hand idly drawing circles on Ana's belly as she snuggled close.

I was getting a little discomforted and a little bit aroused, mostly because I was surrounded by people happily in love, something I didn't have and to be honest, I wanted. Looking away I sighed to myself.

"Story of my life" I muttered to the concrete.

Eventually people started drifting off to bed as it got late so I said my goodnights and wandered up to my temporary room, stripping out of my wet suit, hanging it up in the bathroom to dry and pulling on my panties and a tee shirt, then climbing up onto that very soft, very large bed, it was like a super king size bed, so sinfully soft and luxurious I could stay here for days, just wallowing in it

' _So this is what the mega-rich live like_ ' I thought, not without a hint of sadness, knowing this's as close as I'll ever get to experiencing it.

I lay there, a gentle breeze blowing in through the open doors to the balcony, just processing everything that'd happened during the day until I started to hear faint noises from outside, gradually getting a little louder. Intrigued I got up and wandered over to the balcony, hearing the noises a bit clearer I started to get an inkling as to what they were, something confirmed when I stepped out onto the balcony, looking down to see Alex and Olivia making out in the dim light by the pool, they'd obviously started out kissing but now both were bare from the waist up as Alex tongued Olivia's breasts, making her moan softly.

I wasn't sure I should stay there, it was kinda invasion of their privacy, it was their home after all, but I couldn't look away so I didn't. As I watched they levered themselves out of the pool and quickly stripped before they went back to kissing, ending up on one of the loungers, Benson on her back with Cabot on top of her, eating each other out. They'd obviously had plenty of practice, there wasn't a wasted move, I watched as they shifted positions a couple times, driving each other higher.

It eventually ended with Olivia bent over, on her hands and knees as Alex ate and fingered her to a huge orgasm, by now they were being pretty loud, before they both collapsed, exhausted.

I couldn't really help it; I might be straight but those two had put on a hell of a show, even in the dim light from the house I could see enough and could easily imagine the rest, it had been hot as hell. Without realising it I'd slid one hand into my panties, sliding my fingers through the sudden wetness there and teasing my clit as the other hand played with my nipples through the tee shirt. I knew I wouldn't be seen from the pool and not heard, as long as I was quiet, so I was well on the way to a monumental, shattering orgasm, when I heard a stifled gasp from off to one side, looking across to see Andrea and Mikki standing on the next balcony, watching me as they stood there, both engrossed in each other..

Andrea, standing behind Mikki, had her hands busy, one under Mikki's singlet playing with her tits, the other moving inside her panties as she was kissing Mikki's neck. Mikki's hands were busy too, one behind her inside Andrea's panties, the other reaching up and behind her, buried in Andrea's hair, both had their eyes locked on me, hungrily watching me get myself off.

I don't know what happened, but suddenly I was inside, almost dying of embarrassment and shame as I realised I'd been spotted almost getting off to our hosts, our lesbian hosts, fucking by the pool. I stood there for a bit, ashamed and mortified as I wondered how the hell I could get myself out of this mess. I was still sitting on the edge of the bed, wondering what to do when there was a quiet knock on the door. Reluctantly I got up to answer it, wondering if it would be Alex and Olivia, or more likely Andrea and Mikki, either would be mortifying. I pulled it open, finding the latter, still dressed as they'd been out on the balcony. I know I was wearing a lot more than I had been in the pool, same as they were, but I felt way more exposed, especially as my nipples were still very visible through the tee.

I stood there then looked down at the floor; not exactly sure what to say when you catch two work colleagues having a mutual masturbation session while watching you masturbate as you get off to your hosts fucking in front of you. The silence stretched on for a moment before I looked up to apologise, to say something, when Andrea spoke, her voice soft, something I appreciated, I didn't want anyone else hearing this.

"Amy, it wasn't planned, it just happened, we heard Alex and Olivia and came out to see" Mikki nodded and spoke, her voice low as well.

"Yeah, we were out there when you walked out" I felt my cheeks flame in heat, even as I forced something, anything out..

"Oh" Not real eloquent there. Mikki nodded again.

"Yeah, we didn't say anything, we thought you'd come out to see what the noise was them go back inside, didn't expect you to stay and watch, let alone enjoy it" she said, before I tried to deny it.

"I wasn't…" I tried, but they weren't having a bar of that, Andrea smiled gently at me.

"Amy, you were enjoying it, it was pretty obvious, to be honest" I just wanted to die then and there; looking down for a moment but they didn't speak, when I finally looked up Andrea was still smiling. "There's nothing to be sorry about" Jesus, I felt like dying right now, embarrassed as hell. Mikki smiled gently at me.

"We're sorry if you felt embarrassed, I didn't think you'd stay there watching them" I bit my lip, uncertain of what to say.

"Amy, there's nothing to be ashamed of" Andrea said. "I understand you're single now and well, watching Alex and Liv was hot" I looked round, not sure what to say, even as Mikki spoke.

"They were pretty inspirational, but so were you" I felt my eyes widen as I took in her words, shocked at that, even as Andrea followed up Mikki's words.

"Amy, we came out to watch them, but we couldn't take our eyes off you, you're beautiful" she said. I was surprised, I mean I'm in good shape, I look okay, but to have another woman call you beautiful, especially when she was with someone like Mendoza who really was …Mikki nodded agreeably at that and tipped her head to regard me.

"I know you told me you're straight, but maybe not as much as you might have thought" My denial was quick.

"I am straight" At that Andrea reached out, one finger running down my arm, my skin suddenly tingling and alive where she touched.

"Maybe you are, maybe you just saw two beautiful women making love and found it arousing" she smiled and continued. "Maybe you were just curious, but if you'd like, you can explore that a bit more if you want" I felt my jaw drop open, did they just offer… Closing my mouth I looked back and forward between the two, finally pushing out a response.

"What? You're joking…" Andrea shook her head slightly, she wasn't. "You're serious?" Mikki nodded.

"You're a beautiful woman Amy and you were beautiful out there. We both found you beautiful" I felt this was the time when I had to inject some common sense into this 'Alice down the fucking rabbit hole' moment I was suddenly having.

"But you're together, you love her, you told me that, a couple of weeks back on that stake out" I reminded her. Mikki reached out and entwined her hand with Andrea's.

"I do, we love each other" They smiled happily at each other, she then looked back to me and continued. "But we occasionally feel the need to try something a little different. We've never done this before though but you were beautiful and sexy and well, we'd like you to join us" I couldn't believe my ears; I was being invited to be in a threesome, a lesbian threesome. They had to be joking, I was straight as, I wasn't into girls; well I wasn't, not really, even as my guilty subconscious reminded me of what I'd been doing out on the balcony.

"Me, sleep with you, both of you?" I asked, getting a nod and an answer from Andrea.

"Yes, we'd like to make love to you Amy, will you let us do that?" she asked. I shook my head.

"I've never… I've not done this…" Andrea smiled gently as she spoke.

"Everyone has to start somewhere Amy" Mikki nodded as well, backing her lover up.

"It doesn't mean you're gay Amy, it just means that you're maybe trying something new" I saw Andrea smile at Mikki even as Mikki continued. "You may not like it, it might be a one night thing, or you may decide you do, but you'll never know unless you try" I was about to say something when Andrea turned to me and spoke.

"There's another reason you might like to take us up on our offer" I frowned, not sure what she meant, asking the question.

"Why's that?" Mikki's smile turned into a smirk as Andrea explained.

"There are four couples here in the rooms around us, all of whom have active sex lives, plus Beckett and Castle, I don't know about them but given how they were behaving on the way up to bed they're probably just as bad" She shrugged. "Be that as it may, you're going to be hearing the rest of them at it for the next few hours and they can all be pretty vocal. Alex and Liv were a good example; I wouldn't count on getting much sleep for the next couple of hours" Mikki nodded quickly and spoke up.

"You could be here alone, hearing everyone else having a good time while you lie here by yourself, or you could join us and perhaps find out something about yourself while you're at it" As Mikki spoke Andrea slowly reached up and gently cupped my cheek, her hand was soft and warm and I felt myself leaning into it unconsciously.

Idly I wondered if this was how seduction was supposed to be, carried along because you couldn't think of a good reason why not. I mean I was straight, even if I wasn't as totally straight as maybe I'd thought I was, maybe it was like some of those articles I read occasionally had suggested, that women were kinda fluid. I didn't know, all I knew was that I had two gorgeous women looking at me and smiling, offering me something I'd never tried, or even thought of before tonight. I thought back to Miki's comments about how much fun they had when they all went out, to be the centre of attention but knowing you were going home with someone who loved you. I had to admit, that thought alone was nice, to not be alone…

Maybe she saw my indecision, I don't know, but slowly Andrea leant forward, giving me all the time in the world to say something or shake my head or back away, but I didn't, honestly I didn't want to. I'd seen happy couples together all night and I was lonely, maybe for one night I didn't have to be lonely. Besides, one night didn't make me a lesbian; like she'd said, it just meant I was trying something new. I looked into those soft eyes in the dim light as they came closer, till she gently pressed her lips to mine, they were so soft and warm, the kiss was gentle and unhurried and I found it intoxicating, it wasn't urgent and demanding, just comforting. When it finally ended, just for a second I pressed forward, a little unwilling to let it end, chasing the contact and drawing a smile from Andrea, she'd obviously liked it too.

Licking my lips instinctively, I saw them both smiling, before Mikki stepped forward, obviously looking to do the same thing. Instinctively my hand came up to rest on her arm, the skin warm under my fingers, she froze for a moment then, realising it wasn't me stopping her, continued leaning in. Her kiss was different, stronger, firmer, a little more urgent that Andrea's but I felt myself responding as Mikki's tongue gently ran along my bottom lip, before pressing forward, seeking entrance. For a second I hesitated, did I want this, before my lips opened of their own volition, letting Mikki's tongue slide inside, I tasted mint toothpaste and a fruity taste, the warm lips against mine, even as I felt Mikki slide her arms around me, pulling me against her even as the kiss deepened. I unconsciously let my arms come up, my hands on her arm and shoulder as we kissed, it becoming more urgent, from both of us, feeling her warm body against mine, her thigh moving slightly to rest between mine, making me shiver.

Beyond Mikki, so close, her green eyes staring into mine, I saw Andrea move past me, before her body moulded itself against my back, her soft breasts pressing against my shoulder blades through the thin tees, I could feel her nipples, hard points against my skin as she pressed up against me, sandwiched between them both, her hands sliding round and up to cup my breasts, even as Mikki's hands came to rest cupping my ass, Andrea's mouth hot and wet on my neck.

For a moment my head spun as I struggled to deal with the overwhelming sensations coursing through my body and mind, the fire that's been ignited within me and the moisture I felt at my core as I was sandwiched between both women's warm, soft bodies, Andrea's mouth on my neck and fingers on my nipples, teasing and sending a shudder through me, Mikki's hot kisses and her greedy hands on my ass making me feel like I was on fire.

Finally Mikki's kiss came to a reluctant end and I found myself standing there, pressed between both women, my body burning with arousal. Gently Mikki stepped back and smiled softly as Andrea's hands slipped away from my breasts, leaving their nipples painfully hard, wanting to be touched, something I can see was equally obvious on them too.

Andrea and Mikki moved to stand side by side in front of me and first Mikki then Andrea reached out a hand, an invitation. As I contemplated what they were offering I heard a shuddering moan from Jane and Maura's room across the hall, drawing a smile from both women.

"Hear that?" It was Andrea. "It'll be like that for hours" I swallowed, realising that I was on a threshold. It's as if everything here tonight had conspired to lead me to this place, to leave her in a desperate state of arousal, with two gorgeous women offering to make love to me.

Even if I didn't enjoy it as much as I might think, at least I'd proven that I was straight, though given the reaction of my body to what they'd done, that probably wasn't as much of a certainty as I maybe thought. Coming to a decision, I swallowed and reached out; taking the hands offered with both of mine, drawing smiles from them both.

"Let us make love to you" Andrea said as I nodded; my mind made up and smiled.

"Show me"


	39. Chapter 39

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **38 Foreshadowing's**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Robbery / Homicide**

Amy's viewpoint

That night with Andrea and Mikki had been something I found hard to remember for days after without a visceral physical reaction accompanying it.

I mean they'd done their level best to blow my mind and done a pretty good job of it really. From a straight sex point of view, I'd had nothing like it ever; I mean I suppose I was a pretty boring person in the sack, I'd never had more than one partner at a time, never done anything particularly kinky, unless you count tying someone down while you teased them, but overall I was comfortable that I'd had a pretty good sex life. Now though, after a night in bed with two women that happy assumption had been tossed in the bin, I'd never come like that, so often and so hard.

Both women had focussed all their attention on me, they'd got me inside their bedroom and gently stripped me bare, showering me with kisses and caresses as they did before settling me back on the bed, then stripping and joining me. They'd cuddled me in the dim light, getting me relaxed I guess and then eventually asking me if I was ready to begin. I'd nodded, not without some hesitation, and that had been the signal for them to turn their full attention onto me, they'd used their mouths, their tongues and teeth and their eager, inquisitive fingers to drive me to an unparalleled seven climaxes.

Seven! I'd never known I could come so often or so hard. I kinda felt guilty, they'd done all that and never given me the chance to reciprocate, each time I'd start to recover they'd push me back and start again, driving me firstly to ecstasy then to collapse. Andrea had been soft and loving. Mikki hard and demanding, between them I'd spent most of the night begging or moaning or coming, or recovering, until I'd finally collapsed into unconsciousness.

When I woke in the morning I found I was sandwiched between both women, they were already awake and watching me, making me blush a little, I mean I was no picture in the morning, especially with bed hair but they didn't mind, we'd cuddled for a while as I tried to thank them for what they'd done, only for them to tell me it was their pleasure, that making me cum over and over had been a wonderful treat. I wasn't going to argue that point from my side; I was still feeling the blissed-out after effects. Finally, hearing noises outside we'd roused ourselves and exchanged a round of kisses before I'd snuck out and back to my room for a shower and a chance to evaluate what the hell had happened.

I spent a bit of time inside that huge shower with all the water options, it was like a car wash, water nozzles everywhere, spraying you from every direction, I'd never had anything like it and it felt amazing. I'd spent about ten minutes under it, letting the water beat on me while I just processed everything. Basically I'd just had a night like nothing I'd ever experienced and I was left with a pile of questions. Was I gay? I mean two women had spent the night basically fucking me into unconsciousness and I'd enjoyed every minute of it. I didn't feel different, it wasn't like I'd changed colour or grown horns or a tail, I'd just had a fantastic night, so maybe I'd just experimented. On the other hand, while I wouldn't have gone looking to sleep with a woman, I wouldn't be averse to doing it again, if that was what it was like, languid and slow sometimes, and fast and heated at others, feeling soft bodies around me as I'd writhed, it had been so different from sleeping with a guy. Maybe I was kinda bi, liking both, and Mikki and Andrea had simply shown me that they were both good. I was still thinking that through when I got dressed, wrestling my hair into order and making my way downstairs to find people filtering in for breakfast. I'd wandered over to Alex, thanking her for inviting me to stay, for a whole pile of reasons, not all of which she needed to know about, getting a brilliant smile in return and an invitation to do it anytime I came over. I was sure I probably blushed a little at that, fortunately Liv appeared, looking dishevelled and a little sleepy as Alex excused herself and walked over to give her a kiss, even as my mind flashed back to what I'd seen then do last night.

Not wanting to be a perve I turned away and got a coffee from Ana Romanov who was on barista duty, chatting for a bit before sitting down and enjoying fresh fruit and cereal. Mikki and Andrea wandered down and joined us, looking happy and relaxed. They smiled at me and I swear I could see the evil gleam in their eyes when Andrea asked me oh so innocently if I'd slept well last night. I'd nodded, favouring them both with a happy smile as I stated that I'd had a fantastic night's sleep, and that yesterday's activities must have worn me out.

"Yeah, they can do that" Mikki had deadpanned, before we turned to listen as Jane had commented about how comfortable the beds were and how she always got a good night's sleep on them, something I was happy to agree with.

Finally we'd cleaned up after breakfast and put away everything that had washed overnight in the dishwashers before, without an excuse to stay, I'd reluctantly headed home, with Andrea and Mikki discreetly limiting themselves to smiles and surreptitious winks as we'd parted.

Honestly, part of me didn't want it to stop, to leave them and go back to my empty apartment, another part of me was wondering, not without a little fear, what exactly that meant. Had I become gay, one night of passion and my sexual orientation had turned 180 degrees? What did that say about me; was my 'straightness' that weak that a collection of shattering orgasms could turn me into a lesbian?

I mean I didn't feel different, not really, but I surely was, I'd done something I'd never imagined and now I was obsessed with pussy? That was something I spent a lot of time mulling over for the rest of the day without an answer.

That night though I found myself on line, watching lesbian porn videos, especially interracial porn, before turning them off when I found myself desperate to masturbate to them.

Clearly something about me had changed, leaving me with a lot to think about.

 **Las Vegas Cutler's Bond Store and Secure Storage**

Simmonds hated Las Vegas, the dry, energy sapping heat reminded him too much of back in the sandpit, the hell hole that was Iraq. He'd nearly died back there a couple of times, the first few for Uncle Sam, the last time freelancing, working for Wynter and his friends. He'd ended up facing a noose there, until Wynter had paid the insurgents to hit the prison he was in, giving him a chance to escape in the confusion and then they'd snuck him out of Iraq.

Simmonds wasn't one for sentimentality, but that act had tied him and Wynter's lives together, there was an obligation there, so he'd continued to work with Wynter, then been happy to come back to the states to help him get his little enterprise off and running, sticking around to act as their security head, cleaning up any loose ends that might arise. He was good at it, in part by always having multiple plans up his sleeves, just in case, and being quick on his feet and wits when it all went sour.

Now though he was in Las Vegas to take delivery of a package, a very large, very important package.

The package had been delivered to a secure warehouse by a driver, the latest in a chain of deliveries that had seen his cargo shipped all the way from its unsuspecting supplier in New Jersey. That sort of thing was a monumental pain to arrange but he wasn't still alive and free after all this time by taking stupid risks.

He opened the locked cage that his pallet of shrink wrapped cargo had been kept in; he was taking no chances with this particular shipment. Carefully he cut away some of the shrink wrap and checked the boxes inside, they looked the real deal so, using the crow bar he'd brought with him for this very job, he carefully pried open the box on the top and looked in, smiling to himself when he spotted the RDX blocks in their distinctive packaging.

500 kilos of boom, just waiting for him to find a use for it, and he had just the targets. It'd take some work and some setting up, but those fucking annoying CSI's were going to get what was coming to them, finally.

Securing the crate and the shrink wrap Simmonds grabbed a pallet jack and wheeled the pallet into the loading bay where it was soon slipped into the back of his rental van by a friendly forklift operator. With a wave he climbed in and headed west, sticking to the speed limit he could make Los Angeles by just after rush hour, he could do it faster but he was in no hurry, he didn't want to take any chances with this cargo; not when he didn't have to.

He placed two calls as he negotiated his way through traffic and out off Vegas, the first to his fixer inside the Pentagon, letting him know that he'd collected the package and he should scrub all trace of the shipment, the second to Wynter, letting him know he was on his way.

That done, he slotted easily in amongst the tractor trailer rigs, carefully keeping to the limit and blending in with the west-bound traffic, the last thing he wanted to do was give some curious traffic cop an excuse to pull him over and sniff around, then settled back, the drive giving him plenty of time to work out the details of how to put his cargo to best use.

 **New York NYPD 1PP**

I'd kept searching but no one in SVU or Vice had been willing to give Benson up; why I didn't know; maybe Benson had something on them, or Cabot was paying people off, I didn't know but no one was talking. So I'd kept my ear to the ground and did a lot of digging, if a cop wouldn't give her up maybe someone on the other side of the line would.

I'd been searching for weeks but nothing turned up, until one day one of the other IA guys stuck his head into my office to give me a heads up about a possible lead.

Tony 'Turk' Skuodas, a weasel hustler from the west side had been picked up on an ecstasy dealing charge and given it was his third strike; he'd been looking at some hard time. Looking to trade off the sentence for info he'd claimed that he had knowledge on a couple of cops that were dirty. To work a deal he'd rolled on a couple of beat cops taking a C note a week to look the other way, plus a vice cop with a taste for E. Apparently that last one had been hitting him up for 'free samples' in exchange for not running Turk in, so I guess he was happy to give him up. According to the gossip he'd apparently fingered another vice cop for taking a bribe, though he hadn't known she was a cop back then; Olivia Benson.

I'd hustled down there as fast as I could and had Turk pulled into the interrogation room. To be honest I wasn't impressed, he had that shifty manner about him that practically screamed 'something to hide'. Getting him seated I'd taken one across the table from him and kicked us off.

"I'm Lieutenant Tucker; I hear you've been telling people that you've seen a cop taking a bribe, a big one. That's a big call, prove it" Turk tipped his head to regard me then spoke.

"It's true man; saw it with my own two"

"Tell me" He smiled, a bit too confident for my tastes.

"What's it worth…officer" I shrugged; time to remind him of his place in life's totem pole, on the fucking bottom.

"If it pans out, you get a deal, if it doesn't, you get a deal too" I smiled at him. "I talk to the judge and you get the maximum sentence, served with hard time and no parole" That killed his smile stone dead.

"I ain't shitting you, it's true, saw the bitch get handed a big envelope of cash right there, not four feet away at the next table"

"When, where, who, the works" I flipped open my note book. "Start talking"

"You got to understand, I didn't know who she was back then y'know, far as I know she was just some chick in a bar in Queens, talking to another dude, I heard enough from where I was sitting to know they were talking about her and some others, hookers and drugs y'know" I paused with my pen above my notebook and looked at him.

"You can do better than that"

"Look, normally none of my business, the bitch I was conversating wif, she gone to powder her nose or some such shit, so I was just sitting there minding my own business when during a quiet patch I heard them talking about blow" He shrugged. "That got my interest real quick, strictly professional interest y'know? I don't touch or sell that shit" I just favoured him with an unimpressed look and he kept going. "Anyhow, they were talking about it then the guy passed her an envelope, one of them long yellow ones y'know, and I saw the female cop look inside, then riffle a wad of fifties before putting the money back and the envelope into her pocket like"

"And you know it was Benson, how exactly?"

"Good looking, with that short hair, not all that common y'know. Anyway I was watching the cable a couple months back, about that Russian kiddie porn hooker shit, anyway they showed the cops investigating and one of them was her, the news said her name was Sergeant Olivia Benson, sure she's older now but it's her y'know, she hasn't changed all that much, not really"

"And who was doing the paying?" he shrugged before replying.

"Some guy, works for the mob in Queens" I made a production of looking unimpressed.

"Look Turk, so far you ain't given me shit. For all I know you're spinning some tale to get out of hard time, I need some facts or I go talk to the judge and you get the book thrown at you" He shook his head and leaned forward.

"The guy, well I seen him around enough, his name's Frank Mangionore, works with the Scali family, mid-level guy in the drugs side, it was him I tell ya"

"And when did all this happen?"

"Years ago man, gotta be over a decade y'know, I mean that's what surprised me, that female cop hadn't changed all that much despite it being years since then like" I grimaced.

"I need a year, and a location, where exactly was this bar anyway?"

"The Cellar Door, down on 173rd in Queens, the place is still there" I gave him a sceptical look.

"When?" He sat back and threw up his hands.

"Ah man, like I said, it's gotta be over a decade ago y'know" I decided to turn the screws on the little weasel.

"Let me tell you what I got Turk, I got nothing, because you haven't given me a goddamned thing, in fact I think you're wasting my time" He was quick to protest.

"No man, I ain't, it's just it was a damned long time back, lemme think…." He sat there for a few as I kept my face impassive, though inside I was starting to get excited, if we could get a time and place then we could start looking at dragging Benson back from California. Once back here in New York there was any number of ways we could fuck her over, all I needed was a sliver of evidence, something to get her back to NYC and under our jurisdiction, anything more than an uncorroborated statement.

"It musta been around 2004 cause it was election time, I remember the news was all about the election, not Obama y'know, the one before him when baby Bush won" I nodded slowly and made a note, then looked up.

"What else?" He looked offended.

"I just gave you a vice cop on the take and now you busting my balls?" I sat back and shrugged, unconcerned.

"I have a tall tale right now, maybe, if I find something, I might have something I can take to a judge, but this…" I waved at my notebook. "This is so thin it's damned near anorexic"

"I tell ya it's all true, go talk to Mangionore why don't you, he was the one who paid her off" I flipped my notebook closed.

"I just might"

A bit of digging turned up Frank Mangionore, surprisingly it wasn't hard, mostly because he was inside. He'd got swept up as part of a RICO investigation into the Scali family and was doing time; if nothing else it made it easy to find him so I made the run up to prison to have a chat, nice and friendly like.

It turns out, for the promise of a chat to the parole board chair, that Frank was happy to give her up, once he got over his surprise at learning Benson was a cop.

He confirmed pretty much what Turk had said, apparently he'd been put onto her because she apparently had an in with the Vice cops and therefore could help him skate around any raids or busts, plus she was apparently offering to act as a go-between, helping the Scali's move product via contacts she claimed to have with a high-priced prostitution ring, she was offering to have the girls deliver packages to their customers, sidestepping the need for the customers to risk being seen buying their fixes.

He confirmed that he'd paid her $15K in intro money, in return for Benson giving him a face to face intro to the guy running the prostitution ring.

In the end it hadn't worked out, apparently the pimp had decided it wasn't worth the hassle, probably he thought his girls would be using, not delivering the coke. That still meant that we had Benson for the bribe and Mangionore was happy to testify if it meant a reduction in his sentence. With time served this could see him back on the street, so he was anxious to make a deal.

"You'll have to testify in a court, if you want to get out of here" He nodded.

"Sure, I don't owe that bitch a thing and if it'll get me out of this shit hole, yeah., I'll testify" I nodded and wrapped up, heading outside where I wasted no time ringing Thomas' office. He was his usual rude self, right till I could tell him I had something then he got real interested real fast.

"She was trading her contacts in Vice for cash to alert the Scali family about potential raids and operations, plus connecting the Scali's with a ring of high-priced hookers working the five star hotels"

" _Interesting, how solid is this?_ "

"I've got the guy who passed the cash to her that one time ready to testify, plus an unconnected witness who saw it all"

" _Only once?_ " I grimaced; he would pick up on that.

"Yeah, it was around the time Benson transferred from Vice to SVU, I figure she lost her in with Vice and couldn't continue with her deal"

" _Doesn't matter, we've got a corroborating witness to a bribe being paid, that's enough to drag her sorry ass back to New York_ "

"That's what I figured"

" _Make it happen Tucker, soon_ " With that the line went dead.


	40. Chapter 40

As always, the characters here are the creation of their respective rights holders and the wonderful actors and actresses who bring them to life for us. Thanks to the powers that be for letting us play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **40 The Wedding in Wyoming**

Maura's viewpoint

We drove in a small convoy of cars to a small grove at the bottom of the Dearing family farm, surrounded by trees, the sun shining through the branches, forming cathedral-like beams of light, a small brook ran around one side of the grove while the air was filled with floral scents, bird song and small buzzing insects. It was beautiful in its classic, natural simplicity, as I watched the others looked round with the same delight and awe as we soaked it in. Lauren gave us a few moments to take it in before explaining.

"This was our place, it's where we used to come to when we wanted to get away from everything; this was our sanctuary" She smiled a little wider. "Nat and I agreed when we were kids that one day we'd be getting married here" There were smiles and slow nods at that, honestly I could see the attraction, it was quiet and still, the air was clean and fragrant with the scent of the wildflowers that were everywhere here, this place was beautiful, and beautifully suited to today's purpose.

"Someone's coming" At Jane's comment I looked round, seeing the others do the same and following Jane's raised arm to see a horse approaching, a rider ducking low under branches as he came closer. As he broke into clear view I could see that he, for it was a man, was dressed in boots, riding pants, a dark long coat and a dark Stetson, he looked like someone from an old-style western like Tombstone. As he entered the grove he looked our way and smiled, tipping his hat in old-fashioned courtesy as he spoke.

"Morning" Lauren happily strode over and held the horse's bridle as the rider easily slid off, then wrapped her in a hug, one that went on for a very long moment before he finally let her go and stepped slightly back, looking her up and down and smiling as he spoke.

"How you doing there little missy?" The man got a half frown from Lauren.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that Judge, I'm a grown woman" The man smiled even wider, though we could all see the fondness there.

"Little missy, I changed your diapers, bounced you on my knee, bent you over it and administered a spanking as you might recall, so you'll always be little missy to me" Colouring a little Lauren turned away to tie the horse to a tree before turning back and introducing us.

"This is Caleb Dunn; he's one of the Chief Judges of Wyoming and an old family friend. Judge, these are Nat and Ana's friends" She turned to introduce us. "This is Doctor Maura Isles, she's a coroner with the LAPD, and this is Detective Sergeant Jane Rizzoli, also from the LAPD" Clear blue eyes above a hawk nose and a bushy moustache with hints of grey took us both in before he bowed slightly to us and smiled, his voice carrying a pronounced mid-west accent.

"Charmed, it's a right pleasure to meet you both" Jane and I smiled and nodded as Lauren turned and continued the introductions.

"And this is New York District Attorney Alex Cabot and Detective Sergeant Olivia Benson of the NYPD" He gave us another of those half-bows as he smiled.

"Counselor, Sergeant, I'm truly pleased to meet you both too" They exchanged greetings as Lauren turned to Brenda and Sharon.

"And finally, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and Commander Sharon Raydor, they're both with the LAPD too" Another bow accompanied a smile to both of them.

"Always an honour to meet fellow law enforcement members, particularly senior, and attractive, ones" He winked. "I meet the first all the time, the second? Not so much" He got smiles from them both before Brenda spoke.

"The honour is ours Judge Dunn, it's truly a pleasure to meet you" They exchanged smiles before he turned to take us in.

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing here this glorious morning?" He smiled a little wider. "Well one of the privileges and responsibilities of the office is the right to marry people" He made an off-hand gesture. "Not a commonly called upon one I'll grant you, most folk prefer to have a priest do the job, or maybe a celebrant, but in this case, well, everyone's happy to make an exception" He gestured towards Lauren.

"I've known Natalie and Lauren since they were both born, well the day after actually. Their daddy Peter and I grew up together, I was the best man at his wedding to Christie and I've watched these two grow up to the beautiful women they are today" He smiled at Lauren. "They were beautiful babies, pretty little girls and gangly colts growing up, little hellions both of them, back before they filled out in the last years of school" He nodded at Lauren. "Both of them were on the cheerleading team at high school and later at college, good at it too as I recall" He shared a sly side eye with Lauren who blushed and looked away, obviously there was a story there to be told.

"Anyhow, I live back that way a few miles yonder, so when I got asked to be here, well it's a good day for a ride, and a real good reason too" We nodded, Judge Dunn seemed a real character, before Alex spoke.

"It's a beautiful day for a wedding" He nodded.

"That it is ma'am and a beautiful wedding it is too" He smiled at us. "Been expecting to do this for a while, they surely took long enough to finally get round to it" Jane nodded.

"Yeah, well Nat and Ana do things their own way, in their own time" she commented, getting nods from a few of us.

"That they surely do" He gave a soft chuckle. "I remember when I first met Ana. I was talking to Peter; he'd dropped in, unannounced like, to have a chat, making me wonder what was up. Well apparently Natalie had met someone special, someone she was real taken with. Nothing wrong with that I said, some young guy was going to be very lucky, or so I thought. Then Peter told me she'd brought home a girl, an FBI agent" He smiled a little. "Well, this I had to see, check out the lay of the land an all, so I got myself invited to dinner the very next night" He looked round us all then continued. "Well, first thing that hit me was that Ana was as pretty as Natalie, different but just as pretty. We got to talking and she seemed real nice, but what hit me was how she was around Natalie, that girl was totally wrapped around Nat's little finger and happy to be that way" He shook his head at the memory then continued as we listened quietly, happy to hear another story about our friends.

"I sat her down and talked to her after dinner and found out a bit about her history, that girl was a right mustang, a little wild, but Natalie had tamed her good and proper" He smiled slightly, pushing his Stetson back a little. "Thing is though, I'd rarely ever seen Natalie so happy, I mean she's always been outgoing and confident, just like little missy here…" He smiled slightly as he teased Lauren then continued. "But seeing her with Ana, it was obvious she couldn't be happier if she tried" He lifted his Stetson and settled it back properly on his head and continued. "That was about the time I first knew they were the right match, something I'm happy to help with today"

"Here they come!" At Lauren's excited voice we looked up to see Natalie walking our way, her arm wrapped through Peter's and clutching his hand, she was wearing a beautifully simple white gown, a white silk bodice above a white silk ankle-length skirt, a split down the side allowing her to walk carefully, white heels stepping through the wildflowers as she approached us, her hair in braided loops and pinned up, baring her neck, a few wisps of hair escaping to frame her face. With no veil we could see the excited, happy smile that lit up her face as she saw us waiting for her, one that widened as she took in the judge. Peter was wearing an open neck shirt and a light grey suit, he looked quite casually formal, given I had never seen him in anything like a suit before. Finally they reached us and Nat disentangled herself from Peter to step up and throw her arms around Caleb Dunn.

"Uncle Caleb, thank you, thank you so much"

"Little darlin', there was no way I was goin' to miss this day" Nat was enfolded in a hug which went on for quite a while before he slowly disentangled himself, smiling at her. "No more of that, I don't want Ana getting all jealous, why she might come after me and we don't want than now do we?" He got a smile as Nat stepped back.

"She'd understand" Caleb and Peter shook hands with a set of proud smiles that said it all before Peter stepped back and Natalie's hand naturally came to rest in her father's again as she looked around at us all.

"Thank you so much for being here, it means so much for both of us" There was a round of kisses and hugs from everyone in a happy buzz of conversation which went on for a moment or two when I caught sight of movement through the trees.

"I believe that is Anastasia" At my words we all turned to see Christie and Anastasia walking our way from the opposite direction that Natalie and Peter had. Ana was wearing a white skirt suit, a white jacket and knee length pencil skirt over white stockings and white high-heeled court shoes. Her jet black hair was pinned in a tight up-do and the smile I saw there seemed to stretch from ear to ear. Her arm was similarly entwined with Christie's and I saw their hands tightly wrapped together; like Natalie she was carrying a small cluster of red roses. Christie was wearing a yellow floral knee-length dress and heels, looking lovely, her smile a twin to her soon-to-be-official daughter in law.

We could see the happiness in Anastasia's eyes, a match to that in Natalie's; they were both quite literally radiant with joy, far too much to contain. We greeted them both warmly as they joined us, though their eyes kept returning to one another as if to reassure themselves that this was happening, that today's ceremony was real.

Caleb bent over Christie's hand, kissing it in old-fashioned formality.

"Happiness looks real good on you sis" My eyes opened wider as I realised their relationship, now I saw where Natalie's 'Uncle Caleb' comment had come from, as Christie smiled back at him and spoke.

"I'm happy that you're here to share it with us Caleb, it's a wonderful day for a wedding"

"That it is" He turned to Anastasia. "If the blushing bride here could tear her eyes off Natalie for a moment maybe she'd give her soon-to-be-uncle a hug" Anastasia smiled widely at him.

"You're already my uncle, but today makes you my number one uncle" They wrapped each other in a hug that both clung to for a long moment before, finally, they stepped apart as Caleb teased her gently.

"And how many uncles do you exactly have young lady?" Ana turned a happy smile on him.

"Not many, but you're definitely my favorite" She got a wink in return.

"See it stays that way mind" They smiled happily at each other before Caleb turned, looked round and spoke up. "Well, as we're here, finally, after all these years, I'd better get this show on the road" He looked to Natalie and Anastasia and winked again then continued. "If you'd take your places here" He indicted a thin tree stump that stood upright, deeply weathered, it was about a foot round and cut off about four feet above the ground, almost like a little table, as they took their places on opposite sides of the stump. The judge then took his place to one side with them at either hand before looking across to us.

"If you'd all form a circle around the brides we can begin" For a few seconds we gathered around the brides, Peter and Lauren then Christie, Alex, Olivia, Sharon, Brenda, myself, then Jane, close enough to see and hear everything. Judge Dunn glanced around the circle and nodded once then looked to Anastasia and Natalie who were standing there, staring at each other, entranced. He cleared his throat once, then again, finally gaining their attention, raising an eyebrow as we all smiled at their chagrined expressions.

"Like I was saying, now we're all here we should begin" He stood a little straighter and spoke to the two woman standing in front of him.

"By the rights, responsibilities, honour's and privileges vested in me and my position by the State of Wyoming, it is my honour and pleasure to officiate and preside over the marriage of these two people in the eyes of god, the law and their friends and family" He glanced around the circle and spoke up.

"I could make all sorts of statements about what good people they are, how I wish them love and happiness, but you all know these two, you know that's not required, not for these two love birds, so I'll skip that part" There were smiles around the group, I saw Alex look to me and flash me a quick grin, she was enjoying this as much as I was. Caleb spoke up, his voice a little firmer.

"Who gives this woman, Natalie Susanna Dearing, away?" Peter spoke up as we looked to him.

"I do" They shared a smile between very old friends, one just for them, before the judge composed himself and continued.

"By what right do you do so?" Peter looked to Natalie, getting a shy smile in return as his widened before he replied.

"I am her father, she is my daughter, I have loved and cherished her and I now give her into the care of the one who will do so from this day forth" The Judge smiled and nodded, then turned and glanced at Christie.

"Who gives this woman, Anastasia Katerina Romanov, away?" Christie smiled proudly, her eyes on Anastasia before looking to her brother.

"I do" Christie and Caleb shared a very private glance before he continued.

"By what right do you do so?"

"I am her mother, not by birth but by choice. Her parents may not be here today but I know they watch over us here and I speak for them and us all when I say she is loved and cherished, I now give her into the care of the one who will do so from this day forth" Caleb smiled and nodded to her then glanced around.

"It's customary to ask if anyone objects, but I think we can safely skip that bit" There were smiles all round plus nervous and happy little giggles from Ana and Natalie, before they quickly quietened at his words. "Shush you two" He nodded as it was silent once more.

"I've known Natalie here since she was born, seen her grow up and I have to say, I've rarely ever seen her as happy as she is with Ana here" He nodded gently to Ana then continued. "In the time I've known her it's obvious that Ana is only truly complete with Nat, she obviously makes her happy too" He nodded once to Natalie as she blushed a little as he continued. "Together you two are a pretty wonderful couple, one that I'm proud to be the one to wed" He smiled then looked around.

"May I ask who has the rings?" Remembering that was our cue. Alex and I exchanged a glance before we stepped forward, Alex was holding the beautiful diamond and sapphire inlaid gold band that Ana was going to place on Nat's finger while I had the equally beautiful gold ring with alternating inlaid clear and black diamonds that would soon be gracing Ana's finger. Natalie and Anastasia placed their small clusters of roses down atop the tree stump to free their hands as they held out their hands and took the rings we were holding, giving us grateful and somewhat nervous smiles, smiles we were happy to return. With that task done we stepped back to reform the circle as Judge Dunn nodded and spoke.

"Natalie, I'd like you to tell Ana here what you're pledging to her" At the judge's words Natalie nodded once, quickly, then stood tall, her blue eyes locked on Ana's grey as she took Anna's left hand in hers and positioned the ring at the tip of Ana's ring finger, then took a breath and spoke.

"Anastasia, I promise to love you, to cherish you, to treasure you and to be yours and yours alone, from today forward I am yours, mind, heart, body and soul" She took a breath and pushed on. "You make me a better person, make me want to be better, to be worthy of you, I will spend every day striving to be the person you see in me" She smiled as she spoke. "I love you, you're the one I want to wake up with every day, I love you, I want you and I need you; that will never ever change, I was yours since we met, I'm yours from this day on and I cannot wait to be married to you" With that she slid the ring onto Ana's finger where it sat bright and beautiful.

There were smiles everywhere except on Ana's face, the look there as she stared at the ring was a combination of joy, hope, awe and trepidation, so much so that the judge paused for a second as he saw she needed a moment, finally he prompted her, his voice gentle.

"Ana, I'd like you to tell Nat here what you're pledging to her" Ana nodded quickly to the judge, obviously grateful for the moment before looking at Natalie and unconsciously standing taller. She reached out her left hand and took Nat's in hers. Positioning the ring at the end of Natalie's ring finger Ana spoke clearly despite the tiniest of shakes in her voice.

"Natalie, I promise to love, honour, protect and cherish you, since the day we met there was no one else for me, there never will be, I'm yours for as long as you will have me" She took in Natalie's growing smile and her own smile grew before she remembered to continue. "You see the best in me and that makes me strive to be that person you see each and every day" She swallowed around an obviously tight throat then continued. "I want to be the one you turn to, when you're sick, tired, sad or worried, so that I can ease your troubles and remind you of how much you are loved, now and forever" She looked down for a moment, then back up to meet Natalie's eyes. "I cannot wait to be married to you too"

With that she slid the ring onto Natalie's trembling finger, Nat's eyes locked on Ana's.

There was silence for a moment as we took them in together; the looks they shared were so intense it seemed as if we were intruding somehow on a very private moment. Finally Judge Dunn spoke up.

"Anastasia Katrina Romanov, will you take this woman, Natalie Susanna Dearing, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have her, to love her, in sickness and health, for richer and poorer, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?" Ana nodded once gravely, her eyes obviously seeing nothing but Natalie in front of her as she spoke, clear and strong.

"I will"

"Natalie Susanna Dearing, will you take this woman, Anastasia Katrina Romanov, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have her, to love her, in sickness and health, for richer and poorer, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?" Natalie's nod was as quick as her reply.

"Oh yes!" There were grins all round at her eagerness, even the judge had a wry smile before he dragged us back to the proceedings.

"What we have brought together today let no one break apart, for this union is made in the presence of friends and family and is sanctified by the law the state and god above" There was silence for a few seconds, before he continued.

"It is my decided pleasure to be able to pronounce you wife and wife" He smiled like he could barely contain himself then leaned forward, his voice a little softer. "You may now kiss your wife"

The two women practically lunged at each other over the stump, their kiss was hungry and needy and a tangible demonstration of their love, it went on for a good twenty seconds before Lauren finally spoke, exasperation in her voice.

"C'mon you guys, enough already" The two woman slowly pulled apart and turned identical smiles on each other before Natalie turned her head slightly to take in Lauren.

"Jealous sis?" That got smiles around the group as Lauren coloured slightly.

"No, but we're not finished" There were nods from both Natalie and Anastasia as they turned back to each other, giving the judge the chance to continue. He looked around the circle and spoke up, a wide smile gracing his lips.

"I have the distinct honour and pleasure to introduce Natalie and Anastasia Dearing" There were cheers and clapping as they blushed, before first Natalie then Anastasia pulled the judge into a hug, kissing him on the cheek.

That set off a round of hugs and kisses as we each took our turn with the newlyweds, Then the cameras were retrieved from where we'd left our bags and there was a long round of photos, everyone got shots of and with Nat and Ana, there were group shots, plus we all had our photos taken with Judge Dunn. Finally we broke apart and settled down, looking at the…well 'happy couple' didn't really do them justice, they were joyously, transcendently happy, they seemed to spend as much time lost in each other's eyes as they did looking at us, while they couldn't stop looking at their rings, as if disbelieving that they'd actually done it, something which drew them both a lot of gentle teasing.

The judge retrieved a set of paperwork from his horse's saddlebags and got both to sign them on the small tree stump, together with us as witnesses, before we packed up and made our way back to the house where a family lunch awaited us. While it was not a particularly complex meal, Christie, Sharon and I had taken particular pleasure in creating a meal that encompassed home for them both, a traditional and quintessentially American meal of roast and vegetables, one that we happily consumed around the table amid the laughter, the conversation and the teasing of the newlyweds.

The triple level wedding cake had been wheeled out, with the two female characters atop, one blonde, one brunette, mirroring our friends as they stood to speak, each with a glass of Champaign as we charged our own glasses. Natalie was the first to speak.

"I'm so happy you could be here on this really, incredibly special day" She looked around us and her smile was breathtaking, like she couldn't contain her happiness. "This is a day I've dreamed of for years, somehow, through the good and the bad I knew we'd get here, and now here we are" She looked to Ana and the look between them was full of tender joy, after a second or two she broke contact and looked to us. "I always knew I wanted to be married in the Glade, but for a long time the who wasn't certain, then I met Ana and my dreams now had a face, hers" Ana leaned in against Nat and rested her head against Nat's as she did the same as they stood here, heads together, smiling happily, the sight making us all smile. Finally Natalie remembered she had a speech to finish. "I always imagined today would be wonderful, but I didn't realise exactly how wonderful it'd be, until today"

"To have mom and dad here, to have uncle Caleb marry us and to have you, our closest friends here to be a part of our day, that's something that just made our day even more special" She looked to Ana standing close and gave her a quick peck on the lips before pulling back to continue. "I could not ask for a more perfect setting, a more perfect day or a more perfect collection of friends to be here for our day" She looked round the room. "Thank you for making our perfect day just a little more perfect" She lifted her glass and we drank to them both, happy smiles on every face before Ana looked round and spoke up.

"Thanks everyone, Blondie here's said pretty much everything I want to say too. This has been an incredible day, one of the happiest of my life and having our friends and family here just made it even better" She shook her head, her voice a little quieter. "There were times I didn't think I'd get to enjoy a day like today, at first because of the life I led and later because I didn't think I'd meet the right person" She smiled softly at Natalie. "Well somehow I survived the army and Iraq and came back to the states but didn't really think I'd ever meet the right person, someone who'd love me in spite of who and what I am" She leaned over and kissed Natalie quickly, then continued. ""Well I didn't, instead I met someone who loves me because of who and what I am and I consider myself doubly blessed" That got her a kiss in return from Natalie before Judge Dunn raised his glass.

"To Nat and Ana" something we all echoed. The toasts went on for a while, we each got to say something about the couple, from Peter welcoming Ana formally into the family, through to Lauren reminding Natalie that she owed her $50 dollars; apparently Lauren had wagered Natalie that first weekend that her sister had brought Anastasia home that she would marry her, something she had been happy to tell us all that Natalie had considered a foolish notion.

"I've never been so happy to lose to you sis" had been Natalie's only comment to that, before they couple had cut the cake, before Sharon and Christie had taken charge of dishing up portions for everyone.

Finally the couple disappeared into their room, to reappear twenty minutes later, having changed into clothes more suitable for travelling. We helped them load their bags into Peter's SUV before Natalie, dressed in jeans and boots, a long sleeved shirt and a jacket, walked out in front of us and smiled happily.

"We're all packed so really there's only one more thing to do here" She held up her hand, Natalie and Ana's now entwined bouquets in her hand. "I get to throw the bouquet into the crowd" She turned away as I looked at Jane who grinned at me.

"Go for it babe" Before I could reply Natalie cried out.

"Here we go" I looked up to see the bouquet heading my way, before realising all our friends had stepped away, leaving only me to catch the bouquet, for a second I fumbled it before clutching it tightly then looked around accusingly.

"You did that deliberately?" There were nods all round while Alex was completely unrepentant.

"Yeah, congratulations Maura" The rest were equally congratulatory as the gathered round, even as I looked to Natalie.

"Did you plan that?" She smiled, completely unashamed of her actions.

"Of course I did" I got a happy hug. "Couldn't let my sister get out of her wedding now could I?" She looked to Alex standing next to us. "Mind you, my other sister needs to get a move on with it too" Alex shrugged.

"All in its own time" Finally, Caleb, having swapped his horse, Toto, for Peter's 4x4, ushered Nat and Ana into the car after a series of teary farewells, he had volunteered to drive them to Denver airport where they'd fly on to LAX and a connecting flight to Singapore. They were spending two weeks travelling through Asia, using Singapore as their base. With promises to send us images and to keep our joint Facebook page updated, they were finally gone in a small cloud of dust as we watched from the steps. I noticed Christie had tears in her eyes and Peter was surreptitiously wiping at his eyes too, before they turned back to us and smiling.

"Well, that's a relief" Christie said as Peter nodded.

"Never thought they'd get around to making honest women of each other" Peter said. I shrugged, feeling the need to defend my friends.

"They were always going to get to this point, it was simply a matter of the right time and place" Christie nodded and linked her arm through mine, turning me back towards their house.

"Speaking of which Maura, you must tell me all about your wedding plans" I looked to Jane but she just laughed.

"Don't look at me Maur, it's your show, I'm just there to make up the numbers" Before I could object Christie had linked her arm through mine and was guiding me towards their house.

"Come and tell me all about it dear one, I've been dying to find out more" The others just chuckled, well most of them did, before Christie reached out and hooked her other arm through Alex's. "And you too Alex, I understand it's a matter of when Olivia pops the question…" With that we were both politely but firmly ushered into the kitchen for a 'motherly discussion'.


	41. Chapter 41

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **41 Dilemma's**

Ahmed Kahn's viewpoint

I was …concerned…that would probably be how Mikki would put it. I'd finally met a lady I was interested in but now I was uncertain on how to proceed beyond our current friendship.

The woman I'd met, Maryam, was lovely, smart and independent; she'd left Islamabad to get away from those in her family and community who presumed to tell her what she could wear; where she could work and what she could think. Now she was here in Los Angeles where she had put her mind to getting an education in computer programming and a job in I.T. instead of the restaurants which was where she'd worked her way through her studies.

Maryam was now with a start-up, working on an app to help people with chronic illnesses remember to take their medications, it sounded easy but required some rather intricate database work to ensure that not only were people taking their prescribed medication in the right dose at the right time, but that they avoided any potential harmful interactions with other prescription and over the counter medications.

We'd met at an event for alumni at our university's computer science faculty where we'd been introduced by one of my former professors; he'd explained that we'd both taken his classes, just four years apart. We'd happily chatted for what we'd both been surprised to realise had been almost an hour before I'd managed to screw up my courage enough to ask for the chance to catch up again.

Maryam had smiled and fished out a business card, telling me to give her a call, I'd noted her name rendered as Mary on the card so I'd carefully asked which she preferred, getting a smile as she said whichever you prefer. That had got me smiling as I'd taken a guess and decided that Mary was what she would prefer given she had chosen it for her card, so I told her I liked Mary, getting a cheerful smile in return, it seemed I had guessed right.

When she'd asked which name I preferred I'd told her that while my name was Ahmed, everyone at work referred to me as Kahn. Mary had started to frown so I'd hastily told her that almost everyone there was referred to by their surnames, it was just a thing there and in fact the only person who didn't was my boss who always referred to me by my title.

"That seems very strange" she'd said but I hastily explained that I didn't mind Detective Kahn, given I'd worked hard to gain the rank and be respected.

"Besides, she is very polite with everyone, referring to everyone in her team the same way"

"Your boss is a woman?" I'd nodded and started telling her all about Chief Johnson and the others I worked with, something she apparently found fascinating. Before we knew it the reception was wrapping up and we were saying goodbye, having already agreed to catch up for a high tea and sweets at XXX.

That had been five weeks ago and we'd caught up at least once a week since, for afternoon tea or to visit a museum, for a dinner out and most recently, a Bollywood movie marathon, emerging afterwards happily laughing at the distorted depiction of a society that we'd both left behind us.

I liked Mary, really liked her, and I was pretty sure she felt the same, but wasn't sure how to take it further, caught between the mores of the society we'd both grown up in and the comparatively freewheeling, almost libertine lifestyle of Los Angeles. I'd been sitting there, staring off out the window and wondering how to go about it when Mikki had caught me out.

"Hey man, what's bothering you?" I looked around to find Mikki watching me, she was very observant, watching everything around her all the time, something she kept reminding me to do.

"Nothing, just…" I shook my head. "No, nothing" She shook her head and leaned forward, her voice lowering bit.

"You've been staring out that window for ages, that's not like you, you okay?" I smiled at her concern.

"I am thank you, just pondering a problem" Mikki swung her chair around, a smile lighting up her face as she leaned forward.

"C'mon man, share" Mikki may have been my partner but she was also extremely pretty, while her raven hair and flashing green eyes were almost those of a beautiful Indian woman, her confidence and self-possession were very Western. "Maybe I can help with whatever's bugging you" I shrugged.

"I am wondering about what I should do with Mary" Comprehension blossomed on Mikki's face, she of course knew of her, then nodded and smiled as she replied.

"You like her, she seems to tolerate you, god knows why; so what's the issue?" I smiled at her sense of humour, like most of the team I saw they covered their care for their friends with mild insults. Jane Rizzoli and Olivia Benson were the worst, doing it all the time to each other and also doing much the same with their friend Ana Romanov. It meant much to me that Mikki did so with me too.

"It is not quite so easy as you would suggest it is, there are…issues" Mikki tipped her head to one side and regarded me. For all her occasional teasing she had never mocked me, despite some of our cultural differences, instead treating me with respect, it was just one of the many reasons I was very grateful that she was my partner.

"Okay, care to explain to the dumb gringo what they are?" I grimaced for a second, both at her self-depreciation, for she was most definitely neither, and at her question; where to start…

"Mary and I both grew up in a culture that is much more…" I sought for the right word, before finding it. "…structured, than here in America" I shook my head "There are layers of that structure, family, caste, location, wealth and even the colour of one's skin" I saw her frown at that last before she interrupted.

"You're joking right, their skin colour?" I shook my head.

"A lighter skin tone is seen as very desirable, it is thought to indicate good breeding and higher status" Before I could continue I was interrupted by another, unexpected source.

"Yeah, that's not real uncommon actually" It was Jane Rizzoli. Rolling her seat a little over our way she flashed that cheerful smile as she continued. "Maura tells me that's a thing in a lot of cultures, she was telling me a few months back that's why a lot of Asian women cover up with gloves, hats and umbrellas and avoid the sun" Olivia looked over from her desk next to Jane's and spoke.

"Why?" Jane glanced her way and explained.

"Apparently darker skin, like you'd have if you had a tan, was seen as a sign of someone who worked outdoors, like in the fields, someone lower class, a peasant" I nodded, seeing Mikki do the same as Jane continued. "The women with light skin, they were like the geisha's and nobles and princesses and stuff, people who didn't do physical work, they had the peasants for that" Mikki jumped in, turning the discussion back to me.

"Is it the same in India too?" I frowned; there was some truth to it, but there was more besides.

"There is an element of that, for example high caste women in India did not normally undertake manual labour, so darker skin tones were seen as a sign of a lower caste and in the India of old caste was everything"

"And now?" It was Olivia.

"In a way much of that changed when the English arrived, on the other hand it somewhat reinforced the perceptions" Jane tipped her head to regard me before asking the question.

"How so?"

"English women were of course much lighter skinned than even then lightest of higher caste Indian women, the Brahmins, and normally they did not undertake manual labour, they had servants for that"

"And Brits are normally pretty pasty white, I mean it's not like the weather at home is anything like what we get here" It was Andy Flynn; he'd turned his seat around our way and had obviously been listening in. I nodded, not at all surprised it had turned into a group discussion; the team was like that.

"Yes, and while the wives of soldiers might do some work, and thus be exposed to the sun, the wives of the Colonels and Generals and high officials of the Colonial Government and British East India Company most assuredly did not, so they remained a pale shade of white, in a way reinforcing the lighter skin stereotype" At my comments Mikki nodded.

"I remember my papa saying the same thing after a business trip to South America; in some countries down there lighter skin was seen as a sign of Spanish blood in the family, people with it looked down on the darker-skinned people of the native tribes"

"Jesus" It was Jane. "We fought a horrible war here at home to free people who were slaves because of their skin colour, then went through all that shit in the 60s and 70s to get equal rights for everyone, no matter their colour, that sucks" I nodded.

"In my country, your olive complexion would be seen as more desirable than a woman with light but obviously Indian skin colour, Mikki's would also be considered very desirable, however Chief Johnson's paler skin would be more desirable still" Liv shrugged.

"I think it's because the Chief's getting a bit older, she spends a bit less time in the sun than the rest of us because a women's skin gets less elastic as you get older and too much sun ends up leading to wrinkles and stuff" All three women nodded before Provenza, who had been quiet to this point, spoke up from his desk.

"Yeah, but Nat, Alex and the Doc all sport a tan, well Nat more than the Doc and Alex but still…" Jane smiled.

"Younger, plus Nat says Ana likes her tanned" We nodded, understanding that as she continued. "Maura was very pale back in Boston but out here, with the weather in LA, well the pool gets a workout"

"Alex is the same" It was Olivia. "We'd try and get some time in the sun when we went up to her family's place in the Hamptons, but New York summer's don't hold a candle to out here, so getting a tan's unavoidable really" Andy spoke up

"Still trying to wrap my head around the whole colour thing, I mean there's this Indian woman, an actress I think, you see her picture in all the jewellery stores, advertising watches, she's really something else"

"Ashwarya Rai…" Olivia interrupted. "…and you're right, she is beautiful" I nodded.

"And by Indian standards has very fair skin, increasing her attractiveness to people in India"

"So what's Mary think about all this?" Mikki dragged the discussion back on topic, drawing a smile from me; my partner as always had my back, to use that essentially American expression.

"She is not as 'hung up' on it as a woman back in India might be" I explained. "She does not go to the extremes that some do there, such as using skin whitening creams, instead she simply does not actively seek out a tan, such as Miss Dearing might for example" Of the three women we had discussed, Natalie had the most golden tan, perhaps a fortunate accident of genetics but she seemed to always sport a healthy glow.

"Skin whitening cream?" It was Olivia, obviously surprised. "That's really a thing?" I nodded.

"Oh yes, not just in India but throughout Asia as well" Mikki jumped in too.

"And in parts of South America, or so I've heard"

"Damn" It was Flynn. "Anyway, how does this affect you?"

"Well, fortunately here it is not important to either of us" I smiled as I gave a little shrug. "America is good like that" I paused as they nodded then pressed on. "However there is still the issue of how exactly we move from friends to something…else" Provenza shrugged.

"Just ask her, tell her you want to be more than friends" He gave me an off-kilter smile. "How hard can it be?" I shook my head.

"That is easy for you, who was born and grew up here, but unfortunately not so for immigrants from another society such as Mary and I" Jane leaned forward, interest in her expression and voice.

"How so?" she asked as I saw Olivia also nod.

"Back home I would normally not approach her, it would be done by the heads of our respective families" I explained, causing Jane to sit back, holding her hands up in a warding off gesture.

"Whoa, no way. That'd be like having my Ma arranging boyfriends for me" She shook her head forcefully. "I've been fighting her meddling in my life since I was a kid, to have to get her to act like a go between, oh hell no" Olivia spoke up.

"Yeah, and even if my mom was around, I can't image her going and talking to Alex's dad, suggesting that me and her should be together" She waved her hand across in front of her like she was sweeping the very idea aside. "That was never going to happen; her dad would have tossed her out on her ear for even suggesting such a thing" She sat back and continued. "Alex and I had enough issues getting together without adding parents into the mix" Mikki nodded and spoke up.

"Can you imagine my Madre saying yes to my wanting to date Andrea, I mean sure, she's a lawyer, but she's well…Andrea…so that wasn't ever going to happen" Flynn looked to her, surprise in his voice.

"Your family wouldn't be cool with you and Andrea?" Mikki shook her head and when she spoke there was the slightest tone of bitterness in it, she'd explained to me once over a drink that not all of her family were happy with her choice of lover, with some openly and actively hostile to the idea. Her response had been a very American idiom, ' _they can all go get fucked_ '. Given how obviously happy she was with Andrea, that was a sentiment I completely understood and supported.

"No baby's man, we're talking macho Latino culture here, remember, marriage is all about the babies" Hearing Mikki's explanation Jane jumped back into the discussion.

"Jesus, now you got me wondering if my Ma's not part Latino too" There were smiles at that as she continued. "God bless America" Smiles changed to grins all round at that before Olivia looked to me and spoke.

"Can't you just tell her you like her and want to be exclusive; y'know, more than just good friends?"

"I would like to, but there are, sensitivities that we both must deal with, what is proper and appropriate" There was a quiet for a moment before Mikki spoke up.

"Well, what are the issues?" I smiled at Mikki, glad once more to have her as my partner.

"If we were back home in India, it would be arranged between the heads of the families, but I am here in America now and frankly I am very glad it's not one of those arranged marriages. If it was we'd have never met" Provenza looked confused, something his voice carried.

"Why?" I pulled a face before explaining.

"Mary's family is from Karachi and mine is from Hyderabad" Andy Flynn shrugged as he spoke.

"Yeah, so?" I thought for a moment, so much of America was wrapped up in that sentence; things here were so open and free that sometimes they didn't understand how so much of the rest of the world wasn't. Realising my colleagues didn't understand I tried to explain it.

"Islamabad is in Pakistan, I am from Mumbai in India and there is much bitter history between both countries, back in India my family would have never allowed me to talk to or even meet a Pakistani woman" Andy shook his head.

"That sucks" At his words Jane shrugged, looked to me and spoke.

"Good thing you're here then isn't it?" I nodded as I replied.

"It would seem so, but that does not help me, I don't know what to do" I said, as Olivia looked my way.

"So, tell us, put it into words, what exactly do you want to tell her?" I thought about it for a moment, trying to put it into words, finally looking at her and speaking.

"Put simply, that I like her and want to be more than friends" I said.

"Send her flowers, it works for me" We looked up to see Alex Cabot standing there, watching us from the doorway in a deep blue tailored skirt suit and very high heels, offset by her bright blonde hair and a stark white blouse. I swallowed, in her own way Miss Cabot intimidated me, just as did her friends Miss Dearing and Doctor Isles, they were all so very beautiful and confident, independent, outspoken and outgoing, so unlike the women I had grown up around. While I had met them numerous times through work, I would not consider myself fortunate enough to be considered their friend, and given they were all very important to people I respected, I was always very careful to make sure my dealings with them were very proper. I smiled at her politely and spoke.

"Do you think that is not too forward of me Miss Cabot, to be sending her roses, given we have only recently met?" Alex levered herself off the door jamb and strolled forward.

"Then don't send her roses, send her something that conveys your meaning another way" I frowned, embarrassed that I wasn't understanding her, she must think me a dullard.

"I am sorry Miss Cabot, I'm not following you" She walked my way, her heels clicking on the floor as she did, nodding then spoke.

"Flowers have meanings, you just have to know what they are" As I watched she walked over and paused in front of my desk as the others watched. "For example in your case, I think you need to be very careful about which ones you choose"

"I do?" I blinked, looked up into the clear blue eyes watching me so coolly from behind her glasses, feeling a little chastised under her gaze and then repeated myself, a little more certainly this time. "I do" She smiled a little at my correction, making me feel a little like I'd accomplished something.

"Exactly" Alex grabbed a post it note and a pen from my desk and bent over to write three lines of text as she spoke. "I take it the young lady knows that you're at least interested in her?" I nodded quickly, my eyes glued to the pad in front of her and trying not to be too obvious as I inhaled her perfume as Alex kept writing; she paused and looked up at me, forcing a quick answer.

"Um, yes, I believe that she does, at least I think she does" Alex nodded, putting the pen down and peeling the top sheet off the post-it note pad before placing it down in front of me.

"That should do the trick" I stared into her eyes for a moment, mesmerized, before I felt myself flushing in embarrassment and looked down at the note, seeing three flowers names there.

"Daffodils, Forsythia and Honeysuckle?" I looked back up. "May I ask why these particular flowers?" Alex regarded me then spoke.

"You'll have to look them up, but they should send the message you want her to hear"

"Message? I am afraid I do not understand?" She smiled a little softly, glancing towards Olivia for a second, a soft, tender look passing between them before she looked back at me.

"Flowers have meanings, each flower has a different meaning, when you send them to her, include a card saying something about how these flowers tell you how I feel" she said as I nodded slowly, I was a little intimidated to be honest, Alex Cabot was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever met and to have her here, helping me…I swallowed, desperately trying to play it cool.

"Thank you Miss Cabot, I appreciate your help" She smiled happily at me and for a moment it was like the sun had risen, making me blush slightly as her smile widened. I looked down at the list and spoke softly. "Do you think that this will work?" Her laugh was as bright as her smile as I looked up to see her watching me.

"Trust me, I'm a professional lesbian" She winked slowly at me then glanced up at Olivia, who smiled back happily at her, making me smile slightly at the love and tenderness openly visible there before Alex turned her attention back to me. "I know how to make the ladies very, very happy"

With that she pushed up off the desk and strolled away, pausing to bend over and give Olivia a quick but deep kiss before sauntering into Chief Johnson's office, leaving Olivia looking after her with a goofy smile on her face.

Jane Rizzoli looked my way and grinned, before bringing her hands together like she was praying and bowed in my direction, then spoke.

"Free dating tips from the Jedi master, use them wisely young Padawan" There was a round of good natured chuckles but as I glanced down, taking in Alex's neat and clear handwriting I felt a little more confidence return. I looked up to see Mikki nod.

"Go for it buddy" I nodded slowly and smiled.

With the help of my friends and colleagues, I could do this.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Headquarters**

Amy's viewpoint

Life had changed for me in the last two weeks since that amazing Saturday night.

Ever since what had happened I'd been seeing the world differently, in particular how I was seeing all the women around me; where previously I saw them as colleagues and friends, now I was noticing them in different ways. Standing behind Sharon in a crowded lift on the way to a meeting and breathing in her perfume and the subtle scent of her shampoo, bumping into Maura Isles at lunchtime and truly appreciating just how beautiful she is, especially when she smiles that smile that lights up the room, wondering what it'd be like to have that turned on you all the time and being just a little jealous of Jane for having that reality.

Admiring Natalie Dearing's legs and ass in a knee-length skirt suit and heels as she'd sauntered past, giving me a cheerful smile and a nod as she did while chatting to someone on her cell, or how soothing Chief Johnson's voice is when she's happily chatting to Sharon, seeing Alex and Andrea walking down the hall together and thinking how sexy they look, it's like I've been seeing the world in black and white and suddenly it's in vivid colour.

Vivid was a good word for it, it pretty well described everything about that night, even more than a week later I felt the effects of that night every time I let my mind go back to that experience. Honestly, that had been the best sex of my life and I really wanted to know if it was because they were women or if it was just them.

I'd kicked that back and forward, round and round in my head without an answer until I was heartily sick of it, wondering what I should do now. Part of me wanted to call up Mikki, or maybe Andrea would be better, she was softer, more…gentle I guess, and ask her advice, I mean I was sure she'd be happy to chat; even if deep down all I really wanted to ask was could we try a second round. They were together though and I didn't want to come between them, I'd been an experiment…a one night stand, I couldn't expect to be their on-call booty call.

Realising I needed to find out what I wanted, did I want to try again, I did some research online into the gay dating scene here in LA, cruising innumerable forums I read up about the best of the local clubs, narrowing it down to four of the most recommended, The Intersection (likely too hard-core plus the others were apparently well known there so…no), Tempt (a pure meat market), Blush (apparently a younger crowd on most nights and I wasn't looking for young girls with mommy issues like Mikki had described) and Bar Azul, which had a reputation as a reasonably laid-back venue during the week compared to some of the others.

I'd umm-ed and ah-ed about it for what seemed like ages, before eventually deciding I'd try and see what it was like at a lesbian night club, dip my toe in the water and see if it actually interested me. So I checked up online and Wednesday night was apparently one of the quieter evenings of the week at Bar Azul, there'd be people there but it wouldn't be packed, which sounded a little more in my comfort zone.

I then spent way too many hours agonizing about what I should wear to a gay bar, torn between too dressy and too casual, eventually going with an above the knee slate grey sleeveless dress and heels, my ex had complimented me on it a couple of times, telling me it highlighted my legs, the definition in my arms and clung nicely to my waist.

I spent what seemed an hour just stuffing about, ready to go but trying to build up the motivation to turn plans into action and overcome all my formless fears, finally grabbing my clutch, my keys and my courage and, with a last look in the mirror to check I looked okay, headed out into the night.


	42. Chapter 42

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **42 Coming Home**

Jane's viewpoint

We'd gathered at our place to welcome Ana and Nat back home properly. They'd flown in last night and slept in late this morning as they dealt with jet lag, the Date Line and the messed up time zones on the flight from Hong Kong.

They'd arrived fashionably late for lunch, sporting relaxed and happy faces and deep tans, apparently they'd made the most of the two weeks away. We'd ended up gathered around the kitchen bench and drank Margarita's as they told us all that they'd got up to, though looking at the pictures they'd posted to our joint Facebook page had given us some idea; in the infinity pool on the roof of Singapore's Marina Bay Sands Hotel looking out over an amazing view, The spectacular sight of Hong Kong laid out below as seen from the top of the Peak on Hong Kong Island, in front of mind-blowingly huge aquarium tank in Singapore, eating dinner on a rooftop restaurant in Bangkok, drinking tea with a Buddhist Monk in Thailand and shopping in a Balinese market.

After flying out of Denver they'd connected to a Singapore Airlines flight to the island city. They'd had five full-on days there doing all the tourist stuff before using Singapore's location as the hub of Asia to do short trips to some of the other sights, visiting Bangkok, Angkor Wat, Bali and finally Hong Kong before heading home with Cathay Pacific.

They'd both hit the Singapore tailors, getting several new tailored suits each, apparently they were reasonably priced, really quick and would make whatever you asked for in any fabric, even making something based on an picture or ad in a magazine and turning round orders in a day or two. I hadn't missed both Alex and Maura's eyes narrowing at that little snippet, as you'd imagine, anything to do with fashion…

They'd then produced a bag and handed out presents they'd brought back for us. Apparently jade and gold were common and reasonably priced compared with here so each of us got a piece of gold jewellery featuring jade. In my case a long gold chain with a flat jade carving of an ugly looking dog-lion thing about an inch and a half long. Ana explained that it was a Chindit, a mythological temple guardian famed for its bravery and tenacity in protecting its charge. She looked a little bashful as she handed another box across to Liv, explaining that Natalie had insisted that we get the same for each of us, a match to the one Ana had too. At that Natalie chimed in to explain her reasoning.

"You're our fierce protectors, when you're with us I know we're safe, so it seemed really right"

I'd played it off, making a joke about it being an ugly ass critter but inwardly I was kinda touched, they'd found something that they felt summed each of us up, then paired it with a chain I could wear that was long enough so I could wear it to work but not be seen under a button down or polo shirt. Liv was examining hers before she lifted it over her head and got the dog thing, the Chindit, nestled between her breasts as I saw Ana watching me, getting a smile that said she'd seen right through me, leaving me wondering how I'd ended up with friends like this, people that knew me so well.

Nat then pulled out a package and beckoned Maura over, handing her an intricately wrapped box. Maura quickly and neatly opened it before pulling out a gold necklace with a gold dragon's head pendant with Jade eyes, she cooed over the exquisite workmanship, which looked exceptional to me and must have been, especially if Maura thought so, before retrieving a set of matching drop earrings. Natalie slipped Maura's earrings out of her ears and replaced them with the new ones while Alex fitted the necklace around her neck and did it up, Maura then walked over to the nearest mirror and examined them, turning her head back and forth while holding her hair out of the way before spinning back to face us with a huge smile.

"Thank you both, they are beautiful, and the craftwork is exceptional" While she was examining the pendant closely Natalie produced another package from their bag and handed it to Alex. She got the immediate 'you shouldn't have' but I could tell Alex was eager to open it, giving in to her impulse she tore the wrapping to shreds with her nails and opened the box within, gasping as she saw what laid there.

They'd gotten Alex a necklace-thingy that was in the shape of a golden snake about ten or twelve inches long, the snake's eyes deep jade. Taking it from its box Nat laid it round her neck, the thing looked heavy and the scales were slightly loose so that it could flex to sit comfortably around her neck with the head somehow fixing in place so it lay across the tail. Being a smart arse Nat pointed out that a snake was really appropriate for a lawyer, something about speaking with a forked tongue, but Alex had seen right through her, instead pulling her into a hug that went on for a bit.

A late lunch of a healthy but tasty salad was a chance to catch up on everything that had happened, cases and gossip and stuff, before we headed out to the pool, I pulled off my polo and jeans leaving me in a one piece, to see Natalie do the same in her bikini as l noticed the golden glow she was sporting, they'd apparently deepened the tan they'd had here while away.

It wasn't the only thing I noticed, I immediately spotted the two tattoo's she was sporting, small Asian characters maybe an inch or so across, a single character on her lower right torso and another on the top of her left foot. I wasn't the only one and Alex asked what it meant. Natalie blushed prettily and looked round before pulling Ana closer.

"We wanted something to show how much we're together, so we got these in Bangkok" She tapped the black symbol on her belly. "This one signifies air and the one on my foot is the symbol for earth" I nodded as she reached out and turned Ana partly around, revealing a symbol on her side under her left arm, level with her heart. "This is the symbol for fire while this one…turn around Tsarina…that's it" She pulled Ana's high cut black one piece even higher up her right hip to reveal a single character. "This is the one for water" I nodded at the symbol seeing the others doing the same. "We wanted something to show we were best together and we kinda stumbled upon these, the four elements, all whole together" She paused and blushed. "When I put it like that its kinda corny isn't it?" Maura and Alex hastened to reassure her that it wasn't, that they loved the idea while I just nodded slowly, it wasn't corny; anything but in fact. I completely understood the sentiment.

Nat and Ana were a pair, more than once they'd told me they felt like two halves of the same person, only complete together, something that might have sounded a bit saccharine if it wasn't so obviously true. In their tattoo's they'd found something that symbolised their relationship, each brought elements that the other didn't possess; together they were something very, very special. I understood exactly how they felt, it was something I knew I had with Maura and it was the same with Alex and Liv, each lived for the other, happiest together.

"We got them in places that wouldn't be visible for work" Ana said. "Neither of us like big, in your face tattoos, plus those wouldn't be appropriate for work, so we got something small and simple that meant something" As Ana was explaining their reasoning I saw Liv nod slowly and exchange a long glance with Alex, a lifted eyebrow and a small smile conveying all the meaning needed.

"I had not considered the meaning in such complimentary tattoo's however I believe the symbolism is perfect, and perfect for you both" Maura said, then looked at me. "I am unsure what symbolism would be similarly appropriate for Jane and I; were we to ever consider something similar" I thought about that, not sure what'd be most right before it hit me.

"Maybe a ying-yang symbol, you know the one with two halves reversed that fit together to make a circle" She nodded and smiled happily.

"The Taijitu, the symbol most commonly associated with Taoist practice and symbolism, I understand completely, if we were to undertake to get such a tattoo, would we have the two halves together forming the whole, or would we each have a complimentary half?" I frowned at that.

"I'm not sure, I'd have to think about it" Maura turned to Alex.

"What about you and Olivia, do you have an idea that would suitably symbolise you both?" Alex shrugged.

"Never really thought about it before, but I can see the attraction" she said then looked to Liv, "What do you think Tiger?" Liv shook her head.

"I'll need to think that one over" She smiled. "No rush" I found myself nodding, after all we had all the time in the world.

 **Los Angeles**

Amy's viewpoint

The night had been a monumental disaster, pure and simple. The first part had been fine, pretty enjoyable actually, Bar Azul had been kinda nice, the music was pretty good, the dance sets interspersed with chilled out lounge beats that you could actually talk above it with a reasonable chance of being heard.

It turned out I'd fitted in fine, at least what I was wearing had, there were enough girls there wearing variations on the same black dress theme that I didn't feel out of place at all, instead bellying up to the bar and getting a white wine before turning and wandering around, collecting enough openly appraising and appreciative looks to safely assume I passed muster amongst all these gay girls. That had been confirmed over the next 30 minutes or so as I was approached by a succession of women, all interested and looking to score.

I was used to guys trying to hit on me, so I was interested to see how girls did it to other girls; as it turned out it ranged from invitations so delicately phrased that they might have been invites to a garden party with the Queen of England to come-ons so blatant I was left blushing. Some of the girls were pretty, some not so much, a few were even beautiful, before one of the most attractive women in the place decided she'd found what she wanted and what she wanted was me.

Alexia Parton was a businesswoman, exactly what kind I never actually learned, she was tall even before the strappy high heels, obviously very fit which I appreciated and really attractive, with her olive skin and tousled jet black hair she reminded me a little of Jane, though Alexia was hustling and brazen where Jane was all quiet confidence. She was wearing a tight lace top and a leather skirt, both chosen to show off her tight and toned body and she made no bones about the fact she wanted me in her bed tonight.

We chatted for a while, I played off what I did, not wanting to get into the whole cop thing, it turned some off and some on, neither of which I wanted to deal with tonight. Instead I told her I worked in the city bureaucracy which seemed to work, honestly I got the impression that Alexia wasn't interested in what I did, more in what I could do for her, or her to me.

Three drinks later and she'd moved on from openly flirting, having snuggled close and was running her manicured fingernails down the back of my neck, making me shiver. I turned to speak and found her face barely an inch from mine, as she leaned in for a kiss. It was hot and forceful, her tongue demanding entrance as I tasted red wine on her lips. I don't know how long we were there kissing against the wall before she finally stepped back, took my hand in hers and led me out to her car, a high-end Lexus, and drove me to a nice downtown apartment building.

I was still playing catch up, a little difficult with her nails slowly teasing my leg, raising little goose bumps and making me shiver, much to her amusement as she laughed, then slid her hand a little higher, dipping under the hem of my dress. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, we arrived before her hand could get too much further, parking in the underground garage and catching an elevator to the fifteenth floor, an impromptu make out session in the elevator, complete with wandering hands ensuing, mine tentative, Alexia's insistent.

We got inside the door to her apartment before she had me pressed back against the door, one hand on my breast, another already under my skirt, her tongue in my mouth as she insistently consumed me. It was all running way too fast and I eventually pushed her off, seeing the hungry look on her face.

"Slow down girl, let's not rush things" At my words she smiled, well smirked really.

"Are you kidding, you're fucking hot and I can't wait to fuck you" She reached out and took my hand, leading me through what was obviously an expensively furnished apartment and into the bedroom. Once there she kicked off her heels and reached behind her, the sound of her skirt's zipper loud in the quiet room before it dropped to pool at her feet. Alexia stepped out of the puddle and stood there, the lace top turned out to be a lace bodysuit that highlighted her slim figure. I was standing there, wondering what the hell I'd gotten myself into as Alexia spoke.

"Get out of that dress babe, that body's way too good to hide" She stepped up to me again and kissed me, her hands already pulling the shoulder straps down, then tugging at the dress. I stopped her, seeing her hungry eyes staring at me as I reached behind me and unzipped my dress, then pushed it off, leaving me in purple silk bra and panties set, I'd been told it was a good colour on me.

"Damn babe, you're hot" She stared at me as I slipped the dress off and hung it over a chair. "I normally go for the femmes but damn, I can't wait to fuck you, you're too good to pass up"

I was still trying to catch up, things were moving way too fast for me, we'd barely arrived and Alexia was already peeling that lace off her body, revealing a tight body and some razor-sharp tan lines. She let the lace hit the shag carpet and stepped over to the bedside table, bending and opening it. I was wondering what she was doing when she straightened, in her hand was what I recognised from my video watching as a strap-on, a really, really large strap on, in fact it was as long as my arm from elbow to fingertip and maybe thicker, I'd never had something that size near me before and I sure as hell wasn't going to start now. Alexia was already climbing into it as she looked at me.

Hop on the bed babe, on your knees and let me give you what you need"

"Uh, I'm not sure I can or even want to take that thing" Alexia didn't care, already threading straps through buckles.

"Of course you can babe, you'll love it" I took in the thing, sticking grotesquely out from her groin as she tightened the straps. "Now hop on the bed babe and let me take care of" Her smile changed, turning wicked. "Momma's gonna fuck you nice and hard" I shook my head.

"No, I'm not into that, not now" I saw her frown.

"What?" I shook my head again and tried to explain.

"I'm not interested in that, that's not what I want" Alexia stopped and faced me, the phallus jutting out from her smooth body.

"You'll love it, I can make you feel good" I held up my hand.

"I'd rather not, I'm not comfortable with that, not yet" She tipped her head to regard me.

"You've done this before right, you're not a virgin or something; you have fucked girls before, right?" I nodded.

"A little, I'm not just ready for…" I waved at her waist. "…that" Her hands came to rest on her hips as she leaned forward a little.

"You have got to be kidding me" She shook her head. "Why the hell are you here if not to get fucked?" I held up my hands as I tried to explain.

"I was looking for something, I don't know, but it wasn't this" Her face closed over, her voice was cold and furious.

"Take your things and get out" I tried to explain but she wasn't interested. "You're a fucking teasing bitch, now get the fuck out of here and stop wasting my time" I quickly dressed under her bitterly hostile stare and got the hell out. Standing downstairs I called an Uber and a few minutes later I was on my way home, trying to process everything that had happened.

I'd gone in there thinking that being with a woman was one thing, instead Alexia had been as self-centered and rapacious as any man I'd ever been with, it was obvious with her that it was all about her, what she wanted, she got. I'd gone in expecting it to be like it was with Mikki and Andrea, with them it felt safe. Looking out at the darkened streets I shook my head slowly, safe wasn't the word I'd use to describe Alexia, she was obviously a hard-core, aggressive lesbian and I hadn't been able to give her what she'd wanted; was that her fault, or was that on me?

I lay awake long after I got home, feeling miserable as I tried to understand what had gone wrong, would the night have gone better if I'd given in, or was that simply letting the aggressor have her way? I mean no means no, but had I led her on? Was the responsibility for what happened Alexia's, or mine?

It was a very long time before I finally fell asleep.


	43. Chapter 43

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **43 The Rabbit Hole**

Amy's viewpoint

I was walking out of the office for the day when I bumped into Andrea Hobbs, it turned out she'd been over for a meeting and was on her way back to the DA's office. I was happy to offer her a ride back so we walked to the car park a block over, chatting about inconsequential stuff until we were sitting in my car, when she turned to look at me.

"How are you Amy, really?" I looked over at her to see a look of curiosity and maybe compassion there. I tried to play it off, after all my problems were mine to deal with.

"I'm fine Andrea, all good" I got an appraising eye and a single question.

"Really?" I nodded.

"Yeah, everything's fine" I must either be a dreadful liar or she was using her mad 'lawyerz skillz' as Olivia had once described Alex's ability to see through any subterfuge she might have tried. Andrea had just nodded sceptically and then smiled.

"Excellent, then you won't mind having lunch with us tomorrow" It wasn't a question. I glanced at her but she was checking her phone, letting me know the subject wasn't up for discussion.

So it was that the following day I found myself collected and escorted by Mikki to a café halfway between the Parker Centre and the DA's office, 'neutral ground' as Mikki had joked. Things were all light and easy until the food arrived and the waiter vanished to serve other customers, leaving the coast clear for Andrea to again ask about how I was. As she explained both of them were concerned that they may have handled that night poorly and hurt me.

"God no" I cried, then immediately shushed my voice as I looked round then continued in a quiet voice. "You guys did nothing wrong, anything but in fact"

"It sort of ended and we didn't get to talk, we just wanted to make sure you were okay" Mikki said as Andrea nodded and took up the conversation.

"I realise that what happened may have been a bit overwhelming and that's why we wanted to talk, to make sure that you were okay and weren't angry with us"

"Angry, at you, why the hell would I be angry at you both?" Mikki shrugged as she replied.

"We did…well kinda throw you into the deep end" Andrea backed Mikki up.

"And you may have regretted what happened" I shook my head as I went to dispel that silliness.

"Regret it hell no, it was amazing" I got a pair of relieved smiles before Andrea spoke.

"I was concerned that we may have caused you distress, after all, it was your first experience, and we may have been a bit intense" I gave her a half smile.

"That's one way to describe it though I'd probably have gone with mind-blowing, but intense works too" Mikki nodded and replied.

"I mean it was a kind of a spur of the moment thing , but we also wanted to open your eyes, maybe give you a chance to see things from a different perspective" I nodded then decided that as I had them both here and they were obviously concerned, maybe I should talk to them.

"Well that happened, enough so that I decided to explore a bit" I was suddenly the focus of all their attention as Mikki spoke, her voice rising in excitement.

"For real, what happened?" Andrea reached out and laid her hand on Mikki's, calming her as she spoke.

"Please Amy, tell us, how has that worked out for you?" I pulled a face.

"Honestly sorta good, mostly bad" I saw simultaneous frowns appear before Andrea nodded slowly.

"Go on please" I shrugged and sat back at the table and glanced around but there was no one sitting close enough to hear what we were saying.

"I went out, decided to see what it was like, so I went to Bar Azul last Tuesday night" I got attentive nods and pushed on. "It was kinda nice; quite a few girls there let me know they were interested"

"I told you that lots of girls would be interested remember" I nodded as Mikki intervened.

"Quiet please Mikki, Amy, you were saying…?"

"I kinda let myself be picked out and chatted up by this woman, she was pretty and let me know she was really interested" I pulled a face then continued. "She was in a real hurry, I mean she couldn't wait, before I knew it she was kissing me then dragging me off to her place" Mikki nodded and made a coaxing gesture with her hand.

"And?"

"It didn't end well" At their concerned expressions I paused, struck by the fact they cared.

"Please Amy, did she…hurt you?" asked Andrea softly. I shook my head before answering.

"No, not really, we ended up back at her place, she couldn't get her or me out of our clothes fast enough, before she pulled out a…well a goddamned huge strapon…she wanted to use it on me and I wasn't having any of that" They nodded and Mikki spoke quietly.

"What then?" I pulled a face at the stinging memory then tried to explain without too many gory details.

"I said no and she lost it, claimed I was a teasing bitch when I wouldn't let her use that monster on me then she tossed me out, left me to find a ride home" The expressions on their faces couldn't have been more different, Andrea's shocked, Mikki's angry.

"What's that filthy puta's name, I think I need to go have a 'talk' to her" She put it in quotes. "By the time I'm finished kicking her ass into next week she'll have learned some manners" Andrea laid her hand on Mikki's arm.

"Mikki that isn't helping Amy" She looked to me. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that Amy, I really am" I played it off.

"Lesson learned I guess, stay away from mad women"

"That behaviour was unconscionable, we tell men no means no, women should understand the same thing" Andrea stated, frowning. In return I grimaced.

"She was all about what she wanted, I couldn't, well wouldn't, give her what she wanted" I said.

"I still say I should go have a talk to this puta" Mikki stated, obviously not wanting to let it go. Andrea shook her head and looked to her lover, a little iron in her voice.

"No" she said firmly, I saw Mikki grimace and then nod, obviously Andrea was the voice of reason in their relationship. Andrea looked back to me and spoke; her voice softer. "I'm sorry you had to go through that Amy and that we were responsible for leading you into that" I frowned, responsible…

"How do you figure that?" I asked, getting a shake of the head from her.

"If we had not seduced you, you would not have been at Bar Azul and met that woman" I played it off.

"Maybe, maybe not, I trust my instincts when it comes to guys, but with women, well I have a lot to learn" Andrea went to say something but I cut her off. "No matter what, I don't regret that night with you both, it was fantastic" They exchanged a look before they both turned to smile at me.

"We loved it too" Mikki said as Andrea nodded. I decided to lay my cards on the table.

"Being with you was amazing, the best I've ever had. That's why I was out in a gay bar, I was looking to see if it was just you guys or if it was like that with girls generally" I snorted in disgust at my own naiveté. "Turns out girls can be just as messed up as guys" Mikki nodded slowly then spoke up.

"Yeah, gay girls have all the same issues as the rest of the population, that's why when you find someone special, you hang on to them" I nodded.

"Yeah, you guys are lucky" I smiled. "I just want what you have, I thought maybe I could find it with a guy but I've not had the best of luck there" I pulled a face at some of the guys I'd tried with over the years. "Maybe I just attract the wrong sort" I looked from Andrea to Mikki. "I thought I might have better luck with the girls, but…nope"

"There are others out there Amy, I'm sure you can be happy, it's just finding the right one" I nodded.

"Yeah, I know and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dump all this crap on you" I shook my head. "All I want is what you guys have, y'know, to be happy" Andrea and Mikki exchanged a long glance, long enough for me to wonder what they were thinking, before Mikki nodded once and Andrea turned to me.

"Amy, we both enjoyed that night as well, but I…we…are concerned that you were left unsupported after what happened and we bear some responsibility" I shook my head.

"No, like I said, you guys were fabulous, not just then, but now, I mean you could have walked away, said it was one night stand and washed your hands of me, but here you are, concerned…" I smiled at them both. "I really, really appreciate that, well that and your friendship" Mikki and Andrea exchanged another look before Andrea smiled.

"Are you considering another venture into the gay dating scene or was once enough?" I smiled.

"One bad experience doesn't mean it's all bad; I guess I have to keep looking" Andrea and Mikki both nodded before Mikki spoke up.

"Saturday night?" I nodded and she continued on. "I think Blush might be better on Saturday, it's a bit full on but there's plenty of chances to meet someone" I nodded and went to say something when Andrea interrupted.

"And Mikki will be with you on Saturday night" I looked at her then Mikki, confused.

"You will? How come?" I looked to Andrea. "I don't understand" Mikki answered.

"Yeah, I'll come with you, you need a wingman, plus I've been in the scene long enough that I can steer you away from some of the crazy ones" I nodded slowly then looked to Andrea.

"You sure though, I mean you don't want to come?" She waved my objection away, explaining her reasoning.

"I'd just be in the way, besides, I'm not a great fan of the club scene unless it's with the rest of the group" She smiled. "Safety in numbers"

I sat there, a little stunned to be honest, that they would do this for me, I was kinda humbled actually.

"Thank you, both of you, thank you…I mean…wow"

"Don't want you getting the wrong idea about gay girls" Mikki said as Andrea smiled.

"We care for you Amy; we just want to see you happy"

That did it for me, I was already feeling a little emotional, but at her words I blinked away a tear, to have people who cared for me that much, I hadn't had that for a long time. Finally I got myself under control to see them both looking at me, a little concerned. I swallowed and forced out the words.

"Sorry" I shrugged. "Must be allergies" The look I got from both of them told me they'd seen right through me and didn't give a damn, almost making me cry again. Mikki played it off.

"Then it's agreed, we'll hit Blush on Saturday night, see what we can scare up for you" I smiled, a little tentatively.

"Yeah, scare up, not that that sound's scary…" They both just grinned at me, making me feel a little better already.

 **Los Angeles LAX**

Tucker and his back up, a junior IA detective named Davis, retrieved their bags from the carousel and made their way towards the bank of rental car desks, twenty minutes later they were picking their way out of the mess that was LAX late afternoon traffic and headed for a downtown hotel, the car's GPS leading them in the right direction. Davis turned a bit in his seat from where he'd been people watching to look at the senior detective. Tucker had given him the bare bones of the story when he'd been assigned to accompany him, but Tucker hadn't wanted to discuss anything more on the plane.

"So what's the plan to get to this Benson woman?" Tucker shot him a glance then pulled a face.

"We have to check out where she works, her home, where her dyke lawyer works, see if there's a place we can get to her without her being surrounded by the local cops" Davis nodded.

"Probably her home then" Tucker nodded. He'd thought the same thing, both Cabot and Benson had local licences at an address out here and a database search had located a place in Malibu, apparently a beach suburb out here. They'd check it out once they'd scoped out where Benson and Cabot both worked. If he was lucky they didn't work together, that way he could arrest Benson and have her on a plane back to NYC before Cabot found out and tried to stop it. He smiled and spoke, mostly to himself.

"Yeah, can't wait to spring our little surprise on that bitch Benson"

Davis didn't say anything, he might be junior in IA but he wasn't stupid, he'd easily picked up that there was a lot going on here he didn't have the faintest clue about, but the rumour was that Tucker was doing a lot of dirty work for IA Commissioner Thomas's office, which meant that asking too many questions and being 'difficult' was a career limiting move. Instead he kept his mouth shut and his eyes and ears open, hoping to learn that exactly the hell was going on here. The wisdom of that decision was reinforced as Tucker spoke again, anticipation in his voice.

"I can't wait to see Benson's face, she thinks she's safe from me out here, we'll see how high and mighty the bitch is when I drag her back to New York, hopefully she'll give us some trouble and we can take her back in cuffs" He barked out a laugh. "Yeah, that'd be fucking cool"


	44. Chapter 44

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **44 Ex-issues**

Brenda's viewpoint

Today was one of those days when you just want to quietly bang your head against the desk, hoping like hell that the pain can help you focus. Today's persistent headache was courtesy of Pope, naturally. He'd started heavily pushing the Mayor's plea-bargaining agenda, all in the name of saving the city money by avoiding long trials, trading a reduced sentence in exchange for a plea and a rapid trial.

That push particularly impacted on both Major Crimes and Robbery / Homicide, especially given the heinous nature of many of the cases we dealt with so it was a shared headache as well, with Sharon sitting with me in my office as we enjoyed a quiet lunch, we'd kicked a few counter-arguments around but got nowhere so now we were just sitting having some peace and quiet together.

The Murder Room was empty; the squad was out grabbing some lunch away from their desks on a Thursday afternoon. It meant that we had a bit of peace and quiet, we'd finished lunch so we were sitting in the guest's chairs in my office, idly chatting, our fingers entwined, I was really just enjoying her company as we made some plans for the weekend; of course it was too good to last.

"Jesus Christ Brenda, what the fuck is going on?" Recognising the angry voice behind me I leapt to my feet and turned to find myself confronting a very pissed off Fritz Howard standing in my office door. I felt Sharon rise to stand with me, shoulder to shoulder, she was a comforting presence, one I was grateful for as I prepared to deal with an obviously seriously enraged ex.

"Fritz, what are you doing here?" I asked, surprised given I'd heard he had transferred to Washington. His voice was a combination of scorn and anger.

"I was back in LA for some meetings and heard that you'd turned into a rug muncher. I didn't believe it at first, looks like it's true, with Raydor of all people" As I glanced at her I saw Sharon's lips thin as she desperately tried to hold her tongue. That didn't stop me though.

"Who I choose to spend my time with is my business; I'll thank you to stay out of my life" He sneered at me, at us both really.

"I'm your husband, I have a right to be told, not hear it from someone else over drinks" I pursed my lips, trying hard to control my temper.

"Soon to be ex-husband, I'll remind you that you were the one who left me. When you walked out that door you gave up all rights to pass any sort of judgement on my life" At my rejoinder Fritz shook his head as he took a few steps into my office.

"Well we'd still be together if you'd actually put any effort into our marriage" I pinched the bridge of my nose. ' _Oh god, not this argument again!_ ' I took a deep breath to try and stay calm then spoke, hopefully calmly.

"I'm sorry, but you couldn't handle the fact that I wasn't prepared to give up my career and my life to suit you" He shook his head once, angrily.

"That's what a marriage is supposed to be Brenda, a compromise to ensure we both get what we want" I scowled at his words, he still wasn't listening as I mentally braced myself for the unpleasantness to come as I spelled it out yet again.

"The only compromise you were prepared to accept saw me walk away from my career and become a stay at home housewife and mother. I'm sorry but that's a compromise I'm not prepared to make. I have a career and a life to live, without you"

"Oh yeah, without me, but with her?" He angrily gestured at Sharon. "For fuck's sake Brenda, you're no dyke, what the hell's gotten into you, some kind of mid-life crisis? Instead of buying a sports car you start sleeping with women?" I smiled at the image, little did he know…

"My personal choices are none of your concern anymore, but just for your information, we already have a sports car so that took care of any mid-life crisis. Loving Sharon on the other hand was one of the best things I've ever done, she makes me very happy, happier than I've ever been" Sharon smiled at that but Fritz wasn't listening, his anger overwhelming his common sense.

"I can't believe that you're sleeping with her, for fucks sake Brenda, you like cock far too much to ever give it up" At his assertions I felt the anger building inside me, who the hell did he think he was? My voice came out clipped, carrying the anger I felt.

"What I do in my private life is no longer a concern of yours. Besides, I hear you have a girlfriend back in DC, some young agent, go back to her Fritz and forget about us" The look of surprise on his face was priceless before he pushed past that and spoke.

"Who the hell told you about that?" I shrugged; I'd known that would rankle, that's why I'd thrown it in his face, I gave him a thin smile before replying.

"Word gets around. Now I'd appreciate it if you left" He shook his head angrily as he crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating.

'I'll leave when I'm good and ready Brenda. What the hell's got into you, you missing my dick so much you needed a good fuck and Raydor here's the only one you could find to give you a pity fuck?" Sharon's voice was as bitterly cold as only she could be when truly pissed.

"Agent Howard! You have been asked to leave, I suggest that you do now, before the situation gets out of hand" Fritz threw her a contemptuous glance and then turned his gaze back on me.

"Fuck off, you and Brenda couldn't fucking stand one another and now you're fucking each other? Jesus Christ!" I could stand Fritz's anger, but not his treatment of Sharon.

"That is enough, get out of my office, get out of my Murder Room and get the hell out of this building before I have you arrested" He barked out a bitter laugh.

"On what grounds, calling it as I see it? We're still married but you're busy lezzing it up with the LAPDs prize dyke?" I ground my teeth in frustration.

"The only way we are married is in the sense that our divorce hasn't been finalised. Once it is, I'd prefer it if you stay away from me, stay away from Sharon, stay away from the LAPD and stay the hell away from the state of California" Self-preservation was never one of Fritz's strong suits, as he proved once more when he opened his mouth.

"I bet you're still a coward Brenda, you were too scared to commit to our marriage and have kids, I bet you're too scared to tell your parents you've turned into a cunt-happy whore either" That did it for Sharon, she took a step forward, her voice as cold as ice and hard as steel.

"Agent Howard, get the hell out of here before I have you thrown out" He threw her a glance as contemptuous as his words.

"Fuck you Raydor. This is between me and my wife. So Brenda, I wonder what your parents'll think? I wonder what Clay will say when he finds out his little girl's got her head buried between another slut's legs, tongue up her cunt, or Willie Ray? I'm sure she'll be pleased to know you have this bitch's hand up your snatch" I was fuming, angry beyond belief at what he was threatening, not that he'd be telling them anything they didn't already know and disapprove of.

"Fritz, get the hell out of my office, if you know what's good for you'll get out and stay out" I was almost beside myself with rage, I could feel the anger bubbling up from deep inside, as I desperately tried to hold it in, he was trying to goad me, just like he did during the worst of our arguments.

"Go to hell Brenda, mind you, fucking Raydor here might be a nice taste of it, what's it like, fucking an old cunt like her? I bet she can't get you off like I can" I should have let it go, but I couldn't, not when I was this angry at his slandering Sharon. I sneered at him and spoke, anger suffusing my words.

"Get me off like you could? Hell no, Sharon's a million times better in every goddamned way, plus she loves me the way I am" I saw the shot hit home, before anger clouded his features, reflected in his voice.

"Jesus, you always were a bitch Brenda, now you're a man-hating, rug-munching bitch" I couldn't believe what he was saying, this wasn't the man I knew, this was a stranger, an ugly, angry stranger. Sharon's voice cut through before I could speak.

"And you're a pathetic bully, angry at what you've lost. Well I'm sorry, but you've lost Brenda. She's so forgiving you might have been able to stay friends, even after all you did to her, but after today I don't even think you'll have that" He shoved a fist her way as he spoke, anger in every word.

"What, you think she's yours, well she's not, that's for sure and she'll never be, not if I have anything to say about it" At Fritz's hateful words I felt my fists balling in anger as I snarled at him.

"You gave up any say in my life when you raped me, then walked out more than a year ago. Go back to Washington Fritz and accept that we're over, now and forever" He just shook his head; he'd always been in denial.

"It wasn't rape and you know it, I bet you're just pissed that you're not getting my cock anymore, you always did love it rough and hard, you know I got off making you take it all the way down your throat, hearing you gag and I know you did too" I felt tears appearing in my eyes, the hurt and anger and shame of his words all combining to drive my emotions into a white hot rage.

"God damn you, I will not be spoken to like this" I cried, it didn't stop Fritz though, he was deep in a rage of his own.

"As for Raydor here, is that what you want, to get me out of the way so you can go back to eating out this ugly cunt? Fuck that, it's never going to happen, I'll make damned sure of that" I was starting to get really concerned; Fritz was acting more and more irrationally, not to mention his hand had come to rest on the butt of his pistol. I was pretty sure it was unintentional, but every rookie learns to fear the worst when firearms are concerned. Sharon wasn't carrying hers and mine was in my bag on the far side of the desk from where I was. At the moment, Fritz held the aces as he continued ranting

"Does Pope know about you two dyke sluts? If he did he'd be he'd be pretty pissed off. Maybe pissed enough to transfer you both to dead end holes when your precious careers would come to a screeching fucking halt"

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and saw Jane and Olivia had returned from lunch thank god. Olivia looked my way and caught the tense postures of everyone, before turning and attracting Jane's attention.

"I still have contacts in the LAPD and the Bureau here, once I'm finished talking to them, you'll both be a laughing stock" Jane and Olivia were moving carefully towards the office, I could see their demeanour completely change when they saw his hand on his gun, making them both draw theirs as Fritz continued raving. "In fact by the time I'm finished with you two cunts, you'll be out of a job and ruined, left with nothing, you'll be begging in the street, begging me to take you back" I stood there stunned. This wasn't even a pale imitation of the Fritz I knew, this was someone I didn't recognize. Suddenly I remembered what he'd said earlier, hearing about us over drinks and the words tumbled out.

"Oh my god, you've been drinking" Fritz had been on the wagon for years, been going to AA meetings, I hadn't seen him touch alcohol in ages but now... "You're drunk" He angrily waved my statement away.

"Don't you dare try and lecture me Brenda! I came back to see if you'd woken up to what you'd lost, maybe try and get back together, instead I find out you're fucking a whore, her for God's sake!" His voice lost some of its stridency, becoming a little plaintive. "What the fuck happened to you Brenda?" I tried to calm things down, buy us some time for Liv and Jane.

"Fritz, we grew apart, you wanted someone I wasn't, I was never cut out to be a mother and housewife and I have a career where I make a difference, that's more important to me to than almost anything. You just never saw that, all you saw was what you wanted"

"You didn't want to compromise your career for me, but you're happy enough doing so to fuck her? Being a mother was too damned hard, but being a dyke was fine?" I shook my head slowly and tried to explain, even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"I'm really sorry Fritz, I really am, but I couldn't be what you wanted. Being with Sharon, well, I love her" I shrugged. "It wasn't something I'd even considered, but when it happened, well it happened, she makes me very happy and I hope she's happy with me" Sharon looked at me and tried to convey a smile, despite the situation. Fritz caught it and if anything got even angrier, an ugly sneer appearing.

"Isn't this lovely, domestic fucking bliss, two happy little dyke sluts. Well enjoy it while you can, make the most of your happy little lezzie house of cards, cause I'm gonna tear it down" Sharon moved a little away from me, I realised she was making him split his attention and focus on her in case something happened.

"Agent Howard, you're making a mistake, I understand you're angry and upset, but threatening Brenda isn't the way to deal with this" Fritz shot her an angry stare and shifted his grip on his pistol; right then and there I realised nothing about his hand's placement was accidental. Oh my god. The look he threw her was filled with pure venomous hate as fear ran through me, he was serious and the bitterness in his voice was chilling.

"Sit down and shut up. I told you to shut the fuck up, now keep your mouth closed or I'll close it, permanently. Once I'm through with Brenda, I'll deal with you" There was stunned silence in the room for a moment as Sharon carefully sat, her face a rigid mask, until Fritz felt the chill of a gun barrel at the back of his head, Liv was standing right behind him.

"Sir, take your hand off your weapon now" Fritz started to turn when he felt another barrel in the side of his head as Jane spoke.

"You were told to take your hand off the gun, now move it or the Chief will have to redecorate her office" Fritz tried to bluff his way out of it, bad move though that was.

"I'm an FBI agent, here on a case. Put your weapons away" Olivia snorted, neither woman was buying that.

"Like hell, move your hand or we'll bring this conversation to a messy ending" Fritz obviously didn't believe they'd shoot, more fool him.

"You're bluffing, you won't shoot me" Jane just smiled with chilling certainty, so frigid that the room felt a little bit colder at her words.

"Just watch me." Olivia just nodded as she spoke.

"I shoot you in front of a Deputy Chief and the former head of Force Investigation who you've just threatened, quickest use of force inquiry in the LAPDs history, isn't that right Commander?" Sharon nodded as she slowly stood.

"I can guarantee you'll be completely cleared in less than an hour" I smiled coldly and spoke.

"Fritz, I'd like you to meet my sergeant's, Olivia Benson and Jane Rizzoli. Personally I wouldn't call either of their bluffs if I was you" He looked around for a moment, seeing the clear determination in both women's eyes, before he jerked his hand away from his pistol.

"Fine, whatever" he grated out as Olivia took the gun from his holster and stepped back, just as Flynn and Provenza walked back into the Murder Room and took in the tableau, moving in quickly to support Liv and Jane. I noticed Jane was still holding her gun at Fritz's head.

"I think Agent Howard here isn't going to give us any more trouble Jane" She nodded slowly as she stepped back, surprise on her face and in her voice.

"So he's an actual Bureau agent; this maniac? I prefer Ana actually" Sharon chuckled, the tension bleeding out of us.

"I think we all do" Flynn and Provenza piled into the room as Jane and Liv both holstered their pistols. Provenza just stared at Fritz.

"Shit Howard, what the fuck did you think you were doing, showing up here?" Flynn pulled out his cuffs but I waved them away.

"I think Agent Howard is going to sit there and keep his mouth shut for a moment while we work out what to do with him" Flynn just nodded as he pushed Fritz into the chair as Sharon stepped aside, then his mouth twisted in disgust as he took a sniff then spoke, one former alcoholic to another.

"Jesus, you stink of drink; fell off the wagon did you, you sorry son of a bitch?" Provenza looked from Fritz to me.

"What the hell was he doing here?" I shrugged.

"Apparently he was in town and then found out from someone over drinks that Sharon and I were together. As you can see, he didn't take it well" Fritz looked up at Provenza, then Flynn.

"Jesus Andy, how the hell can you stomach working for a dyke like this slut?" Flynn's face tightened for a moment; before he leaned down, face close to Fritz.

"For old time's sake I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, but say it again and you'll end up with a smashed face from resisting arrest, got me?" Fritz stared at him for a moment and then nodded. Liv looked from Fritz to me.

"This piece of shit is your ex?" I nodded.

"Just waiting on the divorce paperwork to come through, can't come soon enough, especially after this" Jane nodded slowly.

"Now I understand the ex-part" I nodded again, in no mood for a smile. I looked up at Sharon.

"Now what do we do with him?" She frowned down at him for a moment before looking back at me and tapping her finger against her chin for a moment, then speaking.

"Let's get Ana up here, she knows the Bureau and may have an idea on how to deal with him through them" I nodded, Natalie and Ana had got back from their honeymoon a few days ago, looking happy, tanned and relaxed, well that was going to end. At my look Jane pulled out her cell and stepped away to make the call. I looked down at Fritz, wondering what the hell happened to the man I thought I knew. Sharon stepped closer and spoke, low enough for only me to hear.

"It's not your fault Brenda, he made his choices and then you made yours. You accepted his, he can't accept yours. That's not your fault, it's his" I turned to look at her, keeping my voice low.

"I can't help thinking I drove him to this and that I'm somehow responsible" She shook her head.

"The only one responsible for this is him, not you" I just nodded and turned away.

The next few minutes passed quickly, Fritz tried to start conversations and was quickly told to shut up by everyone, eventually subsiding into a sullen silence. Mikki and Kahn arrived back and I asked Provenza to go and keep them occupied while we dealt with this mess. Finally Anastasia came into view, moving quickly through the Murder Room to my office, her face held in tight check.

"Brenda, I came as fast as I could, what the hell happened?"

"This is Special Agent Fritz Howard of the Bureau, formerly the FBI liaison to the LAPD; also my soon to be ex-husband" I waved his way dismissively. "A former alcoholic, he's apparently been drinking again, found out about Sharon and me and didn't take it well" She stared down at Fritz as her mouth turned down in disgust, her voice matching her expression.

"What'd he do?" I shrugged as Sharon spoke, her voice deceptively calm.

"Threatened to go to Pope about us, ruin our careers, expose us to Brenda's parents, make us a laughing stock, generally make our lives hell, have us begging in the street, I think that covers the high points" Fritz looked up, a look of gloating satisfaction on his face.

"I was right, you're too much of a coward to have told your parents; oh, they're gonna love hearing about this, as much as I'm gonna love telling them" I stepped forward but Sharon grabbed my arm before I could slap the ugly smirk off his face.

"Brenda, he's not worth it" Olivia looked over at Ana, her voice formal as she gave evidence.

"He also threatened Commander Raydor, told her to shut up or he'd do it permanently; while he had his hand on his pistol. Rizzoli and I both heard that" She stepped forward and handed over Fritz's Glock 19, Ana just stared at it for a second before turning to Fritz, her voice loaded with disgust.

"Agent Howard, what exactly did you think you were doing?" He looked up at Ana, curiosity and speculation on his face as he ran his eyes over her, lingering over her breasts before he spoke.

"Who the hell are you?" She stared down at him for a moment and then leaned forward, her voice hard and pitiless.

"Special Agent Romanov, the Bureau's liaison to the LAPD, you sorry fuck. Now what the hell did you think you were doing showing up here and threatening two senior LAPD officers?"

"I came to see my wife, to find her in here with her" Ana sneered down at him as she spoke.

"Doing what exactly?" Fritz gestured in our direction.

"They were here, together" he said as Ana's lips thinned in annoyance.

"We've established that, but what the hell were they doing that could possibly have set you off?" He looked around for a moment, obviously starting to realise how much of an ass he'd been. Sharon smirked from where she was leaning back against my desk, her voice cool and mocking.

"We were being completely shameless I know, but how were we to possibly know he found two women chatting over lunch offensive" Fritz looked up, desperate to justify himself, even if it was only to himself.

"They were holding hands!" There was silence for a moment before Jane spoke, her voice dry as dust.

"Shocking" Olivia's reply was equally deadpan.

"Scandalous" A quiet chuckle ran around the room, Ana however was not amused; her voice was loaded with contempt.

"You pathetic fool, you bust in here and abuse people because you have an issue with who your ex is seeing and then threaten them, while handling your sidearm, apparently under the influence of alcohol?" She shook her head slowly. "You're a disgrace to the badge Howard, if I get my way, you won't have it for long" He shook his head.

"Like that's gonna happen" Ana just stared at him for a moment, then she stepped back, taking the Glock from Olivia and shoving his weapon into the back of her pants before pulling out her cell and searching her phone's directory for a number which she called.

"Good afternoon, Special Agent Romanov for Director Martinez, it's extremely urgent...yes I'll hold" Fritz sneered at her.

"Roberto's an old friend, he won't hang me out to dry" Ana ignored him as Flynn snorted in obvious disbelief.

"Good afternoon Director Martinez, sorry to call you like this but we have a serious problem. One of our agents turned up at LAPD headquarters unannounced, barged into a meeting of two senior officers here and threatened both of them with a range of actions, including a threat to the life of one of the senior officers"

She paused as her phone erupted; Ana winced slightly at the volume and pulled the phone away from her ear a fraction. I had to admit even standing where I was the volume was impressive and the foul language audible. Fitz's smile slipped a bit as he listened. Finally Martinez stopped swearing and started demanding answers.

"The agent was Fritz Howard" I could hear the ' _W_ _hat?_ ' from across the room. "Yes sir, he threatened Deputy Chief Johnson and Commander Raydor, we have witnesses to some of the threats, including the death threat" Martinez was quiet for a few seconds, allowing Ana to continue. "Agent Howard smells of alcohol sir, I need to arrange for a blood test but I think it's warranted" She listened for a few seconds before continuing.

"The witnesses heard Agent Howard threatening Commander Raydor, telling her to shut up or he'd do it permanently. Agent Howard had his hand on his service weapon, in its holster, while doing so. Both LAPD officers were unarmed" Ana stood there, nodding for a moment as Martinez obviously conveyed instructions to her while she looked down at Fritz. She moved the cell from her ear and looked to Sharon and I as she pushed a button on the phone and held it out towards us.

"We're on speaker. Will you be bringing charges against Agent Howard?" The look on her face suggested she didn't mind if I did, obviously no Bureau solidarity evident there. I looked to Sharon where she stood next to me, seeing her looking back at me, compassion visible in her eyes.

"He's still your husband Brenda" Her voice was soft. "It's your call" I stared back at her for a moment, before speaking, my voice low, just for us.

"It was your life he threatened sweetie" She sighed and pulled her glasses off, massaging her eyes for a moment, before looking up at Anastasia, her voice loud and clear, both for Fritz and Director Martinez.

"I'm happy to let this matter drop if…IF we have a commitment that Agent Howard will return to Washington, not attempt to undermine either Chief Johnson or myself, not contact Chief Johnson's parents and not return to Los Angeles for a period of five years" Fritz bounced to his feet.

"Five years? No fucking way!" Jane placed her hand on her weapon in its holster as she spoke, low and menacing.

"Sit back down, now" Sharon just stared at him, contemplating him calmly before speaking, her voice cool and clinical.

"If Agent Howard refuses to agree to these stipulations, then I am more than happy to have him charged and prosecuted under sections 417, 422 and 647f of the Californian Penal Code" Fritz had gone pale as he spoke weakly.

"You're bluffing" I knew he was wrong when Sharon spoke again, her voice was the flat, slow, deadly monotone she used when she was extremely pissed off, the one that had experienced officers wetting themselves in fear. Sharon was deep in complete scary Commander Raydor mode now, regarding him with no more compassion than she might consider a cockroach on the sidewalk, she was even worrying me a bit and I wasn't even her target.

"I will remind Agent Howard that these crimes carry a combined maximum penalty of more than two years in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation" She levered herself up off the desk and took a step towards Fritz. "And I will exert every effort I have to ensuring the maximum possible sentence is imposed, to be served at San Quentin" She paused for a second, considering Fritz. "Given his position as a Bureau agent, and the risk he would be in from other prisoners, I expect Agent Howard would have to serve his entire sentence in solitary confinement" Olivia looked up and smiled as she chimed in.

"I'm sure DDA Hobbs and DDA Cabot will be more than happy to prosecute the case"

Martinez' voice came through the speaker slightly agitated; obviously the thought of one of the Bureau's men being torn apart in a public court by the combined efforts of Andrea and Alex had him terrified, with damn good reason.

"I don't think there's any need to get either Attorney involved, really" Olivia smiled even wider.

"Oh I do" Fritz was getting angry.

"This is a fucking joke" His voice was rising as he stood, he was losing it again. "You can all get fucked, there's no way I'm going to jail, I'll see you all in hell first, especially you, you fucking bitch" He stepped forward, waving his fist at Sharon, or he was until Flynn and Liv slammed him back into his seat and Liv produced a set of cuffs.

He went to fight them, until Jane drew her pistol and pointed it at Fritz's face, her voice cold, her aim unwavering from a distance of a few inches from the bridge of his nose.

"Put your hands behind your back, now" Seeing the look on her face, the clear determination, he stopped struggling and they cuffed him, before Jane re-holstered her Glock. Anastasia spoke into the speaker.

"Sorry Director, Agent Howard physically threatened Commander Raydor and has had to be restrained. Did you hear all of that?" Martinez's voice, a bit tinny, came through the phones speaker.

"I did. Chief Johnson, Commander Raydor, if you release Agent Howard into Agent Romanov's custody, I can have him on a plane back to DC tonight. You have my word that he will not interfere with you, your families or the LAPD again. Is that acceptable?" I looked at Sharon, who was looking at me, she nodded slightly and I nodded once in return, before turning and addressing the phone.

"Thank you Director Martinez, it is acceptable. If Agent Howard abides by the terms of our agreement, then we won't press charges" I took a breath, this next was going to be difficult. "If however he does not, not only will I will press charges, several additional ones will be added and I will have no hesitation in dragging you and the FBI into the court as accessories after the fact" There was silence for a few seconds before Martinez spoke. I wasn't surprised, but we had to be sure Fritz would do what was agreed and if it took a threat to drag Martinez and his people in front of a judge, then so be it.

"I take your point Chief Johnson. Agent Romanov, please escort Agent Howard to my office, we'll talk then" The line went dead as Martinez hung up.

Anastasia looked around at everyone in the room and then down at Fritz.

"Are you going to behave or do I have to perp walk you the whole way out of headquarters in handcuffs?" He looked up at the contempt in her voice, to see it mirrored in her face. His shoulders slumped.

"You won't need the cuffs" At a look from Ana and getting confirmation from me, Liv removed her cuffs and he automatically brought his hands round to the front to rub at his wrists, I could see the angry red marks there, Liv hadn't been particularly gentle when she'd cuffed him. Ana looked around the room at all of us and then at Sharon and me, speaking quietly.

"On behalf of the Bureau, please accept my apologies for Agent Howard's behaviour" I could tell that Ana was actually apologising on her behalf, she'd taken his behaviour as a personal slight, his actions as a Bureau agent reflecting on her. Sharon and I exchanged a glance before we both nodded and I spoke.

"Thank you Agent Romanov" She looked down at Fritz and the contempt returned.

"On your feet you, we have a trip over to the Bureau to make" He nodded slowly and stood, looking at me, regret on his face

"Brenda, I'm sorry, I didn't want this" I felt my anger return in full force, it took all my self-control to not hit him across the face.

"Don't bother. I'd be more inclined to believe it if you hadn't threatened the woman I love. If you ever threaten her again, I will shoot you dead where you stand, without hesitation or remorse, you got me?" He nodded slowly as I felt any remaining ties to him break irrevocably. "Goodbye Agent Howard, we won't be meeting again, you can expect to hear from my lawyer real soon" I scowled at him. "Don't bother contesting it, if you do I'll have no hesitation in seeking to have it settled in court, where today's little episode should make interesting testimony" He looked away, making my voice harden even more. "Do you understand Agent Howard?" He looked up at me, then away and nodded once. Sharon nodded quietly from where she stood before speaking.

"Sergeant Benson, Sergeant Rizzoli, would you be kind enough to assist Special Agent Romanov in transporting Agent Howard to the Federal building; once he gets there he's their problem, but I want to make sure he gets there without causing Agent Romanov any grief" They both nodded and followed Ana as she pushed Fritz out of the room. My eyes followed them as they passed through the Murder Room, all eyes on him.

Andy turned to me, his voice low.

"Chief, you okay?" I shook my head.

"No, not really, but I will be" I saw him glance at Sharon, nodding gently, before backing out and closing the door behind him. I looked up to see Sharon watching me, sympathy welling in her lambent green eyes. Before I could say anything, she turned and walked to the blinds, shutting them with a snap.

In three steps she was holding me as the tears came and I cried into her shoulder. Cried for a man I'd once loved, cried for the man he'd become and cried for the woman holding me, at the hate in his eyes when he'd threatened her life. Sharon's hands slowly rubbed my back soothingly, as she whispered meaningless comfort into my ear.

My tears finally stopped, but it was a long time before I could let Sharon go.


	45. Chapter 45

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **45 Late Night Show**

Brenda's viewpoint

It was Friday evening and I was working late at the office, doing personnel management paperwork, again. It doesn't matter how many cases we close, how many murderers and such we send to jail, Candace Morrell in HR is always after me about my team's performance appraisals; Candace says I'm always one of the worst offenders for not having it in on time.

Sharon had suggested that I do what she does, which is spend some time writing up a really good appraisal that's not too specific, then run it through the thesaurus, changing enough key words that it reads differently each time, add in some specific comments about the person being appraised and there you have it, all done.

It sounded good, but I'd found I liked writing about how good my people were; far too much to rely on a form-letter style document, so I wrote it all out individually and was always late. Mind you Sharon was hardly one to talk; she was in her office working just like I was, finishing up her own team's appraisals. When I 'd rather smugly pointed that out to her she'd just replied that that it was all my fault, normally if she was running late she'd simply take them all home to do over the weekend, now however that wasn't an option as, in her words, she had to 'keep me entertained all weekend'.

I'd just laughed at her pout, kissed her soundly to remind her why she didn't mind being stuck with me this weekend then strolled off with a smile and an airy wave.

Now though it was almost eight and I'd just finished Ahmed Kahn's report, he'd done well so far; his technical skills were beyond reproach and from someone who had become used to Mike Tao's work that was high praise indeed. It was just that he'd come far and quickly on the basis of those skills and he needed more experience as an investigator and detective, the sort of seasoning he was getting quickly since I'd partnered him up with Mikki. She was almost his exact opposite, not so good with the paperwork aspects of an investigation and her tech skills needed a lot of work, something I was getting Kahn to tutor her with, but her instincts with people were very good, almost as good as Jane and Olivia's.

They all had their strengths and weaknesses, Provenza and Flynn had plenty of experience and street smarts and knew their way around the department to pull in assistance and support when needed, plus they seemed to know anyone of any seniority in the department, while Olivia and to a lesser extent Jane were still learning how the LAPD bureaucracy worked. On the other hand both were exceptional detectives, Olivia was better with people while Jane was the more observant on a scene. Together they made up quite a special team, one that was made even more so by their close relationships with their friends and partners.

Add in Maura, Natalie, Alex, Andrea and Ana and I was blessed to have the sort of support and stability in a team that every senior officer craved. If I had one wish it would be that Ana was part of my team, she was a very good detective as well as working very well with Jane and Olivia. I sighed, I couldn't have everything and if she was part of the Major Crimes team we wouldn't have anywhere near the support from the Federal bureaucracy that we did. I stopped for a moment and thought about that; I was doing personnel appraisals for my team and found myself wondering who did Ana's, wondering if it was Pope.

God I hoped not, Will at times had his head so far up his own ass he couldn't tell you if it was day or night, happily living in the dark. The thought that he was perhaps contributing to Ana's performance reports was a little…disconcerting, to put it mildly. I decided I might have a chat to Belinda, Will's secretary and the true brains in that office, there might be a chance for me to contribute to her appraisal, make sure that her true worth was properly conveyed, based on what I knew of Will he probably just lumped her in with Natalie and Maura as easy-on-the-eye candy. He'd always been a sexist bastard when it came down to it. That truth triggered another equally distressing thought, maybe I should also talk to Belinda about Maura and Natalie's appraisals as well given I'd had more than enough reason to work with them both to speak authoritatively on their performance. It was extra work but something I was more than happy to do, especially given they were not only my colleagues but my friends too.

I shook my head and looked over me desk, I was down to the last few reports and should probably consider thinking about heading home. Flynn and Provenza's reports still had to be done, I could take them home I guess, but that would mean less time spent with Sharon on what was supposed to be a lovely, sunny weekend.

I frowned as I considered both men; Flynn was approaching sixty and Provenza, well he was well past the usual retirement age, he'd stated the only reason he kept working was to deny any of his ex-wives access to his pension, the thought making me smile, that was so him. While it was unlikely either man was going anywhere soon, I did have to at least consider succession planning for both of them.

If they left the easiest answer would be to push either Jane or, if she stayed on with the LAPD, Liv, to take the Lieutenant's exam and then select them for the vacancy. I'd face push back from within the department, Jane had only recently made Sergeant and Liv would have only just joined the Department, but I'd just have to battle through. The alternative was to try and recruit replacements from elsewhere in the LAPD and given the crucial role my Lieutenants played in the team, I was leery of outsiders. For all their gruff exteriors, both men had come to appreciate Mikki, Jane and now Liv for the job they did, not for the beautiful women they were. They'd both given me some sexist grief years ago, back when I'd only just started and was some blow-in from Atlanta, now though they were some of my staunchest supporters and I really didn't want to consider not having them on the team.

They were both excellent mentors to the younger team members, their hard won knowledge and advice offered in a laid back and often self-depreciating manner that made it both easily accepted and memorable, all in all I was very happy with the work both men were doing, which reminded me that I should mention that in my reports on both of them as well. Still neither was getting younger and I needed to at least consider a future with them gone, even if it was still some years away. If I did manage to maneuver Jane and Liv into the Lieutenant roles it meant that I could pressure Mikki into taking the Sergeant's exam. Apparently she'd turned down the chance a couple of years ago, but that was then, this was now and I resolved to talk to Andrea about it, after all there was more than one way to skin a cat, or promote a Mendoza.

Catching movement out of my eye I looked up, wondering if it was Sharon but instead it was Ana, breezing in and exchanging greetings with Jane and Olivia, they were the only ones left, everyone else had headed off to get a head start on the weekend. Given the hour, it was almost eight, I really should tell them to go home, but they were probably waiting on their partners, the same as I was on Sharon. Besides, they'd probably tell me to go home anyway; I sighed as I realised that sometimes there's drawbacks to having your team made up of your friends.

I watched them for a moment, sitting and chatting idly, almost certainly waiting for their lovers to arrive, a thought which made me smile, wondering how Sharon was going, she'd said she was going to finish off her own paperwork before calling me up to let me know it was time to go home. I was just wondering if I should call her when the rear office door through to the corridor opened and her head appeared around the edge, smiling as she saw me. I smiled back at her, hopefully it was time to go home.

"Hi sweetie, I was just gonna call you" She stepped inside and closed the door, before wandering over as I leaned up for a kiss, a move as natural as breathing. The kiss was nice, the company more so.

"I got a text, asking me to come up here via the back door and to turn off the lights in your office then wait on what happens" I frowned.

"A text from who?"

"Jane" We both looked out as Sharon spoke. "Apparently they have a surprise for Liv planned" I saw Ana look down at her phone, then look back up our way, seeing us both looking at her. She glanced over at Liv who was talking to Jane, then back at us and nodded carefully once. Sharon walked over and flicked off the lights, the room now only lit by the lights from the squad room, leaving us hidden in the gloom. Sharon walked back over and at her gesture I moved my seat back, allowing Sharon enough room to slide into my lap, allowing me the chance to wrap my arms around her and snuggle in; stealing a kiss as I did.

We sat there for a few minutes as we cuddled, I didn't mind waiting with a lapful of Sharon snuggled close as we occasionally fooled around, until I saw Ana pull out her phone and read a text. As we watched she finished it and nodded at Jane who smiled. My ears twitched as I heard the sound of heels coming down the hall towards us as Jane fiddled with her phone before music started playing. I recognised the riff from nights out dancing at clubs with Sharon and the girls; Michael Grey's track The Weekend. Sharon leaned in, her breath warm on my ear as she spoke softly.

"Hmmm, appropriate really. I've been waiting all week to take you home" I just smiled at that seeing as we were together at her place or mine every night; as we watched the three brunettes sitting in the squad room all turned their heads, waiting on whoever was approaching, seeing Natalie stride into the room.

I frowned, she wasn't dressed in her usual clothes, she was wearing a tight black pencil skirt suit, crisp white blouse, seamed stockings and three-inch black patent stiletto heels with her hair in a high ponytail, carrying a briefcase and wearing a set of dark-rimmed glasses, in fact she looked awfully like Alex in court, something Sharon muttered as we watched her strut into the murder room.

Natalie stopped in front of the girls and started dancing in time to the music, she really was a good club dancer; we were both enjoying the impromptu show and I could tell the audience out in the murder room was too, their grins said as much.

 _I can't wait_

 _For the weekend to begin,_

The chorus had just finished when Maura appeared in the hallway, dressed identically to Natalie and strode over to join her, the pair of them dancing in unison as I recalled the film clip, it was office workers dancing round the office while singing how they couldn't wait for the weekend.

 _I'm working, all week long_

 _I dream the days away_

 _I wanna sing my song_

 _So let the music play_

 _I have to get my kicks and fly tonight_

 _And when the clock strike's six_

 _On Friday night_

 _I need to blow it all away_

"Mmm, sexy" Sharon whispered in my ear as I nodded slowly, they looked like an office fantasy, a pair of sexy secretaries, well a trio actually as Alex strode through the door, dressed identically, right down to the briefcase. The three of them danced in a circle, strutting in time to the music in front of their lovers, at one point during the chorus stopping to stand, one foot balanced on their briefcase as they played at pulling up their skirt slightly to adjust their stocking, revealing to their audience that they were wearing thigh-high stockings and suspenders. Lucky them I though, imagining Sharon doing the same in front of me; mmm, that was a thought to savour.

 _I can't wait_

 _For the weekend to begin,_

 _I can't wait_

 _For the weekend to begin_

Each of them sent a sultry glance to their lovers over their glasses as they stepped off their briefcases, getting a very appreciative response from their audience as I swallowed slightly, feeling more than a little aroused myself by the show they were putting on. As the song continued they resumed dancing.

 _I make it when I can_

 _I try, I try_

 _I'm shaking up my plan_

 _And I get by_

 _I'm saving all my soul and all my pay_

 _So I can lose control on Saturday_

 _I'm gonna blow it all away_

Prancing around in a circle they unbuttoned and slid their coats off, tossing them on their girlfriend's laps before dancing away again.

 _I can't wait_

 _For the weekend to begin,_

 _I can't wait_

 _For the weekend to begin_

As I watched they started unbuttoning their top two buttons to reveal that they were each wearing lacy black bras, to the obvious enthusiasm of their lovers.

 _I have to get my kicks and fly tonight_

 _And when the clock strike's six_

 _On Friday night_

 _I'm gonna blow it all away_

"Nice" It was Sharon's breathy voice in my ear as I tightened my arm around her waist, pulling her a little closer.

 _I can't wait_

 _For the weekend to begin,_

 _I can't wait_

 _For the weekend to begin_

 _Begin_

 _Begin_

 _Begin…_

As the song wound down they each ended up happily ensconced in a lap, Alex in Ana's, Natalie in Jane's and Maura in Liv's.

They each give their respective lap partners a quick kiss, before obviously asking how they liked the show, given the laughter and smiles I can tell they liked it as much as Sharon and I did.

"That was fun" Sharon's voice was warm and sultry from next to my ear, making me nod.

"It was, lots" As we watched they laughed and teased each other for a bit before the blondes stood up and pulled their lap partners to their feet, everyone retrieving their coats and getting dressed, before grabbing their lovers and heading out.

Alex suddenly stopped and turned, looking towards my office before bowing deeply our way, the others also waving to where we were sitting in the dim gloom. From the look on Liv's face she must have been mortified as she suddenly realised her boss just witnessed the whole thing, making me smile. I heard Natalie laugh and speak up, loud enough to be heard.

"They're probably pissed that they didn't get to join them" Jane nodded and replied, glancing our way.

"Brenda might be giving Sharon a similar show tonight" They were right, though I wouldn't be adverse to getting one from Sharon either, even as there were smiles and grins all round out in the main room before they headed out.

As they exited Sharon snuggled closer and placed a kiss right behind my ear before leaning in and murmuring into my ear.

"I wouldn't mind a show honey" I turned and looked up at Sharon, seeing the humour and love in her eyes.

"Why Sharon Raydor, what sort of girl do you think I am" Sharon leant back in and whispered.

"A very, very, sexy one" I happily gave her a kiss for that, getting one back and before you know it, there were kisses all round, Finally Sharon stood, turning to me.

"Pack up honey, we're going home" I happily smiled up at her and went to stand when my cell pinged, indicating a text message; it's from Anastasia; I read it with Sharon looking over my shoulder.

' _Dinner at Contempo restaurant, if you want to come and aren't too busy with other plans…_ '

We looked at each other and I could see Sharon was as torn as I was; we both wanted the other, soon. Sharon tipped her head.

"What do you want honey?" It was tempting to take her home, peel her out of her work clothes and spend some time under the shower together, washing off the day's cares as we took care of each other; reluctantly I decided that could wait, for a little while longer at least.

"C'mon sweetie, we can go eat, then head home for dessert"

 **Earlier that afternoon elsewhere in LA**

"That's the right address, at least according to the GPS" At the comment from the young IA detective next to him Tucker nodded.

"Can't see shit from here with that wall in the way" he groused. He sat there for a moment then looked to Davis. "Pretty ritzy area though" The younger man was fiddling with his smart phone, finally looking up.

"You don't know the half of it" Tucker looked over at him.

"What?" Davis held out the smartphone.

"Google Earth view of the property, its massive" Tucker took the phone and looked at it, his eyes widening, Davis had been right, the place was fucking huge.

"Jesus" Davis leant over and tapped a button on the screen and it changed to a 3D view, speaking as he did.

"You get a better idea for it this way" Tucker nodded as he spun the view, this place was a goddamned mansion out of the movies, he could see a pool, manicured grounds, a tennis court, you name it, all surrounded by a damned high wall he noted. That must be Cabot's money, god knows the woman was loaded, a member of the one per centers, living large and lording it over anyone else. He shook his head and handed the phone back.

"No fucking way are we getting in there, now without being spotted trying to get in, plus you gotta figure that place has some top of the line security, I don't know about you but I don't want to have to explain why we were breaking and entering to some patrol cops"

"A warrant maybe?" Davis asked, drawing a head shake from Tucker.

"From a judge here in LA, on a LA cop, no way that'd happen, not without the local cop's cooperation" He glanced at the high gate and walls and grimaced. "We gotta find another way to get to Benson"

"Try grabbing her when she emerges on her way out or on her way back in maybe?" Tucker thought about that then shook his head.

"If she saw us try it and maybe mistakes us for a robbery or an attack you can bet she'd fire first and ask for ID second, and naturally the local cops would back her up, besides the bitch is too damned good a shot to risk that sort of idiocy, no we have to get her somewhere she thinks she's safe" Davis nodded then spoke.

"What about going to the local IA guys, they'd give us a hearing?" Tucker shook his head.

"Nah, from what I've heard apparently Benson's in tight with the local cops, what do you think the chances are of them letting us waltz in and drag her back home?" He looked at Davis. "If the situation was reversed would you hand over one of ours to another city's cops" he asked rhetorically as Davis nodded slowly.

"Got it, so what's the play?"

"We gotta get to her somewhere she's gonna let her guard down" He thought about it for a moment. "Probably inside LAPD headquarters, she works in this Major Crimes section, lets scope that out" Davis frowned.

"How do we get in, you gotta figure security's as tight as 1PP?" Tucker grinned.

"I ain't found a desk cop yet who won't back down in the face of IA, leave that to me" Davis looked a little dubious, but Tucker was the lead on this so he kept his mouth shut and just nodded, Tucker grinned at him, already looking forward to his next meeting with Benson.

"Piece of cake" Tucker said.

 **Los Angeles**

Blush with Mikki as my wingman was a different experience, turning up at my place she'd vetoed my first two clothing choices, only relenting when I'd walked out in a little black dress, similar to what she was wearing, though the emphasis was on the 'little', mine was short, leaving my legs exposed all the way to mid-thigh.

"Yeah, that's good, you've got good legs, might as well show them off" She gave me an appraising glance. "What about the shoes?" I help up a pair of block heels only to get a shake of the head. "You're going femme and looking for a femme, you're not a butch and you don't want one either, not for your first couple of times anyway, so go find something with a nice heel" I went back in and rummaged around for a set of pumps with a three inch heel, put them on and walked back out, getting a warmer reception, Mikki nodding when she saw them. "Much better" She pulled out her cell and took a quick shot then fiddled with it for a second.

"What are you doing?" I asked, as she looked up and smiled.

"Second opinion" I realised what she was doing and sure enough a minute or so later her phone pinged, she opened it up and grinned, holding it my way. It was a reply from Andrea with a line of thumbs up and a single word. " _Nice!_ "

With that we were off, Mikki schmoozed us past the door bitches and inside at Blush with all the skill of someone long practiced in the art, not hard when she looked that good. She scrubbed up really, really nice, this was the first time I'd seen her dressed to impress and I was impressed, she was gorgeous. For the next ten minutes we stood off to one side nursing drinks while collecting a decent number of appraising and appreciative glances, not all of them for her alone, which didn't hurt my self-esteem at all as I was standing beside her as the woman in question gave me some advice.

"It'd be all too easy to pick up some kid, there's plenty of young one's here that'll be happy to let you, but take it from me, most of them come with mommy issues" I looked over at her.

"Yeah, you mentioned that a while back on stakeout, how so exactly?" She grimaced then explained.

"They don't want a partner, they want someone to be the one in charge, they'll happily be the ultra-femme and let you be the one in charge, you make all the decisions and they'll be the clingy girlfriend" I nodded, not impressed with that attitude.

"That sound pretty bad, well kinda weak actually" She nodded.

"You're obviously fit and strong, you'll push all their buttons, if they were straight they'd be haunting nightclubs looking to hook up with jocks, here they're looking for a tough girl" She frowned. "That's not what you want, especially not when you're looking for a girlfriend, not a one night stand" I nodded, she was right there, I looked back to her and asked a question.

"You sound like you've been there?" She nodded, turning her green eyes to me.

"Too many times, they all ended when I got bored, that's why I'm so happy with Andrea, I ended up with a partner, not a girlfriend" I nodded slowly, understanding what she meant.

"You're lucky" She smiled at me.

"Sure am" I was about to say something when one of those early twenty-something brunettes wandered up and smiled at us both.

"Hi, I'm Keira, I was wondering if one of you would like to buy me a drink" I took her in, slim, pretty in a girl next door way, she couldn't have been much over 23 or 24, Mikki went to say something but I decided I should get some practice in.

"Thank you Keira, but we're good so no thanks" I got a bit of a pout combined with a head tilt.

"You sure about that…" She got cut off, a little curtly.

"We are, have a good night" Mikki said, getting an eye roll from Keira.

"Whatever, your loss" with that she turned and flounced off as Mikki rolled her eyes.

"Perfect example there, we buy the drinks, we entertain her, we make the move, we take her home and we do all the work" She snorted. "Entitled little pillow princess, she expects to lay back and let us do all the work and all the thinking" I tipped my head to look at her.

"Bit of bitterness there Mikki?" She shook her head.

"Nah, I used to be willing to play their games, hell the pre-Andrea me would have happily spent the next hour or hour and a half chatting her up, then took her home and fucked her stupid and considered it a night well spent. Now though, she's just a waste of my valuable time" She looked at me. "Why would I want that when I have Andrea" She shrugged. "Sure Andrea's twenty years older and while she's been working to get into shape her body's not tight like Keira there, but she's way smarter than a whole room full of her and she keeps me on my toes" I nodded, thinking it over, then commented.

"It sure sounds like you're in for the long haul with her" Mikki looked at me and slowly nodded.

"Yeah" She pulled a face. "Compared to her, most of the girls here don't rate a second look, not when I know what I have at home" I nodded and smiled.

"Y'know that sounds a lot like love" I said, in return I got a lopsided smile.

"Yeah, it kinda does actually" We stood there, happily smiling at each other as I realised that not only was I happy for her, but I wanted exactly the same thing. To love someone so much that I could stand here in a room full of pretty girls who were interested and not have the slightest bit of interest in any of them.

Over the next half hour or so a number of women came up to chat, some were like Keira, others more interesting, a few of those latter knew Mikki, one or two asking where Andrea was, Mikki mostly played it off as playing wingman for a friend tonight though one woman nearly got her head bitten off when she suggested that if Mikki was no longer with Andrea she'd be more than happy to help her forget her. I saw the expression on Mikki's face and quickly sent the woman packing before Mikki lost it. I got a nod.

"Thanks, I don't want to get thrown out" I grinned at her, getting one back as I held my fist out and spoke.

"Partners right?" We exchanged a fist bump and smiled happily as we continued chatting for a while before she headed to the ladies, leaving me nursing a drink and contemplating the night when I heard an unpleasantly all-too-familiar voice behind me, making my stomach lurch and my nerves tense.

"Oh it is you, I thought so, what the hell are you doing here?" I turned to find it really was Alexia standing behind me, a loose silver top over black leggings and strappy high heels, all designed to highlight her tight and toned body. I sighed, just my fucking luck, tonight of all nights and shook my head.

"What's it matter to you Alexia, can't I enjoy a night out?" She looked me over and sneered at me.

"Not if you're here to lead someone else up the garden path again" I shook my head again and tried to explain.

"That wasn't what I intended" She snorted at that and spoke, her voice unpleasantly condescending.

"Well that's what happened, scared little mostly straight girl, ran at the first sign of a decent fuck, you were a monumental waste of my time" I decided it wasn't worth the grief to get into an argument and tried playing peacemaker.

"Look Alexia, it turned out neither of us were what the other wanted, why don't we agree that it was a mistake and go our separate ways" She shook her head, obviously she was still pissed at me, god knows why.

"I just hate being played by some confused cunt-teasing lesbian wannabe" I turned to face her, feeling anger start to rise, I didn't want trouble but I wasn't going to be this woman's punching bag either.

"You think that's what I was doing?"

"Sure, you don't have the guts to take what you really want, so all you end up doing is fuck around wasting our time" I suddenly saw the welcome sight of Mikki appear behind Alexia and smiled a little in relief, Alexia though took it the wrong way. "You think it's funny do you?" I shook my head as I replied.

"No, not at all" Alexia leaned in close enough I could smell alcohol and cigarettes on her breath as she spoke, her voice bitter, making me wonder just how badly she'd taken the whole episode, pretty damned bad it seemed.

"You know what happened after you ran off screaming into the night? I went back to Bar Azul and picked up some pretty young barely-legal thing, took her home and fucked her all night. She helped me get the foul taste you left out of my mouth" I saw Mikki was listening in closely from just behind Alexia.

"Hey, I'm sorry OK? I wasn't ready for what you wanted" She was dismissive.

"And probably never will be. That little girl was half your size, but she couldn't wait for me to fuck her, she seemed to have no problem taking my cock, unlike you" I shook my head.

"Jesus Alexia, you're a bitch" Her reply was brutally dismissive.

"Fuck you"

"Nah, that's not going to happen" It was Mikki stepping into the conversation. "Not now, not ever"

"Who the fuck are you?" Alexia asked, running her eyes angrily over Mikki as she walked past

"Her girlfriend" Alexia's eyes narrowed.

"You, she picked you up? Jesus, I pity you then" Mikki shrugged as she replied.

"Why, she's a hell of a lot nicer person than you" That just set Alexia off.

"What the hell…" Mikki cut her off curtly.

"I heard what you had to say and you sound like you're one fucking miserable bitch" Mikki pulled a face then spoke. "All things considered I'd take her any day over you" She looked over at me and indicated Alexia with a tip of the head. "Is this the puta who…?" I nodded.

"Yeah, unfortunately" Mikki turned to Alexia and spoke, her voice changing.

"You have five minutes to be out of here, I don't care when the fuck you go, as long as it's somewhere else"

"Or fucking what?" Mikki smiled; all teeth and sass as she threw a glance my way.

"Or I ask my girlfriend here to arrest you for disturbing the peace, our peace" Alexia threw me a disbelieving look.

"Her, a cop, bullshit" Mikki shrugged and looked to me.

"Show her girlfriend" I nodded and fished my badge out of my clutch, Mikki had insisted I bring it, showing it to Alexia who paled. She opened her mouth to say something when Mikki held hers up as well.

"Like I said, beat it, get the fuck out of here or take your chances" She shrugged nonchalantly and smiled. "Your call" Alexia looked back and forward a few times between us as I copied Mikki, smiling at her until she threw her hands up in the air.

"Fine, fuck you both then" I repeated Mikki's words to Alexia.

"Nah, that's not going to happen" I said. "Not now, not ever" Mikki nodded.

"Yeah, what she said, now beat it" Without another word Alexia stormed off, leaving us there as Mikki turned to me.

"That really was the one, the one you told us about?" I nodded as I put my shield away.

"Yeah, that was her, Jesus Mikki, thanks for being here, I don't think I could have handled her if I'd been alone" Mikki shook her head and smiled as she dropped her badge back in her clutch.

"Nah, you'd have been fine" She looked around, looking for Alexia but she'd vanished into the crowd. "I can see the attraction, I mean the package looks nice, but the person inside…" She shook her head as I nodded ruefully.

"Yeah, she really went to town when I wouldn't give her what she wanted" Mikki frowned and leaned in close.

"How large exactly was…?" I grimaced and held my hands apart, about the approximate length and Mikki eyes narrowed as she frowned darkly.

"Filthy puta" She looked in the direction Alexia had vanished but she was nowhere to be seen so Mikki looked back at me and shook her head. "Sorry your first experience was a selfish cunt like her" I nodded then smiled.

"It wasn't actually, my first experience was amazing, thanks to Andrea and you, Alexia was unpleasant but I can keep going, I want to have what you and Andrea have" Mikki stood there with a thoughtful expression on her face, contemplating me for a good fifteen or twenty seconds, enough that I started to worry.

"Mikki…" That did it for her, she leaned in and spoke.

"C'mon, we're leaving" I was confused.

"We are?"

"Yeah, we're going home" I was confused; we'd only just got here but if she wanted to wrap up it was okay.

"Okay…sure" She left her drink on the table and with one hand she grabbed mine and led me through the crowd and outside, with the other she fished out her phone from her clutch. Once outside she made a call.

"Hi, it's me, we're coming home…" She nodded and I saw her smile. "See you soon" With that she ended the call as I looked to her; she was still holding my hand.

"Umm, Mikki…" She looked to me and gave me a lovely smile.

"C'mon Amy, we're going home" I was confused, something I tried to explain.

"But why, I mean…me?"

"Andrea and I had a talk and well, this was always an option, if you want it to be that is" I nodded, a bit stunned actually. "After that bitch Alexia, I think you need another example of what girls can actually be, we're not all bitches like her" Mikki stated.

"I'd never, ever consider you and Andrea in the same breath with her" I said, shaking my head. She nodded and winked before she got us headed towards the cab rank, this early in the night it was mostly empty as she pulled me alongside her and she moved a little closer, until we bumped shoulders.

"Smart move, now let's head on home and we'll show you why"


	46. Chapter 46

**A/N** This story is rated M for a reason, this chapter being one of them.

This chapter contains depictions of consenting adults doing what consenting adults do when they feel like it, so if sexual content isn't your thing, please skip the chapter and move on.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **46 The Comforts of Home**

Amy's viewpoint

We ended up grabbing an Uber and after a reasonable run through the mid-evening traffic we found ourselves pulling up outside what I guessed was Andrea's house in La Mirada, over near the community park. I was still wrapping my head around what was going on when Mikki unlocked the door and waved me in ahead of her, walking inside I found Andrea waiting for us, looking relaxed in jeans and a tee, barefoot. Without her usual power suits and heels she looked smaller, softer somehow.

I got a kiss on the cheek, was offered a white wine and we were soon settled on their couches, sitting facing them as Mikki explained a little about what had happened earlier. Andrea had been nothing but supportive and we'd chatted for what turned out to more than half an hour before the conversation turned to why we were here.

"Amy, Mikki and I have discussed this previously and we would like to extend an offer for you to stay with us tonight, and if you would like, other nights as well"

"When you say stay you mean…" I got a smirk from Mikki and a lovely smile from Andrea as she answered.

"Well, we expect that you will be sleeping, eventually" I nodded, looking between them sitting on the couch and asked the 64 million dollar question.

"Why, I mean why me?" I indicated Mikki sitting there beside Andrea, her hand in Mikki's. "She loves you, it's as plain as anything, why bring me into that?" Andrea nodded at that before replying.

"I am extremely fortunate to love Mikki and have her love me in return" They exchanged a smile, soft and full of love, before she turned back to me. "That said, while what happened before was almost an accident, we all enjoyed what we did, plus we both enjoyed being with you, we like you and would like to explore how far that can go, together"

"But why me?" Mikki waved my way.

"Amy, have you looked in a mirror lately? You're hot" Andrea favoured Mikki with a slightly exasperated look before she turned to me and spoke.

"Mikki is correct, if a little blunt, you are a beautiful woman Amy, one we both enjoyed sharing that night and we believe that we would all enjoy doing so again, but we also enjoyed the fact that it was you" Andrea shrugged. "We would like to make love to you tonight and let you make up your mind if you would like to make it a regular occurrence" I nodded.

'I understand that" I nodded. "It's just that I never thought you'd want a third in what's an obviously strong relationship" Andrea nodded solemnly before replying.

"We are strong, which is one of the reasons we are able to do this together" Andrea glanced at Mikki then back to me. "We could not do this without the other; that would be a betrayal, but to do it together…" Mikki nodded as she spoke.

"Yeah, it'd be wrong without Andie here, but together, well we liked sharing and we liked sharing with you" I thought about what they'd said then asked the obvious question.

"Why?"

"Standing on the balcony watching you was amazing, the invite was a spur of the moment thing, we knocked on your door to apologise, the proposition was an afterthought" Mikki shrugged. "We don't regret it, any of it, it was a pretty amazing night all up and we know you enjoyed it" I pulled a face at that statement of the patently obvious.

"How could I not, seven times, for god sakes, seven …times…" Mikki looked to Andrea and smiled with satisfaction.

"Well the bar's been set…" Andrea nodded back at her lover and looked to me with a smile.

"We enjoyed it as much as you did and would like to see if we can not only recreate the magic of that night, but determine if it is something we would wish to do on an ongoing basis, as the basis for something more than just a series of threesomes" I thought about that for a few seconds, realising what she was offering but I wanted to make sure.

"You're offering a relationship with both of you?" I asked, not quite believing it.

"Yes, we would like to see where this may lead" Andrea smiled softly. "It may become nothing more than a semi-regular, particularly enjoyable diversion, on the other hand, it may become more, something we would like to explore with you"

I nodded slowly, seeing the options open in front of me; it wasn't the sex, though that had been amazing, it was the idea of the company, the care… If I was being honest, if I wanted sex with no strings attached, there were innumerable bars in LA where I could easily pick up a guy; with this dress and a flirty attitude, I could turn up and have company pretty much immediately, but I wanted more than a random cock to scratch the internal itch. Mikki and Andrea were offering me more than just a night of wild sex; with them it was potentially so much more. I looked up to see them both watching me and smiled happily, my mind made up.

"What happens now?" Andrea smiled at me then Mikki who smiled back before she looked back and spoke, her voice cheerful.

"I suppose the only question then is how do you like your eggs?" I couldn't help but smile back at her at that as I gave her a cheeky answer.

"In a cake?" I got two sets of grins as Mikki nodded.

"She's going to fit in just fine"

When I finally awoke, or more to the point, my bladder woke me up, I found myself cuddled around a sleeping Andrea even as I realised Mikki wasn't there. For a while I just lay there and enjoyed the sensation of holding someone, even as my mind went over what we'd done last night.

We'd done stuff I'd never imagined, as Andrea had stated during one of the lulls that got bit more frequent as the night turned to early morning, there were things that you could only do with three people and they were eager to try as many of them as possible.

Being undressed by both of them in the dim light from scented candles, then laid down on the bed and being kissed and caressed by Andrea as Mikki disrobed and joined us, her hot mouth fusing to mine as Andrea pulled away to undress, Mikki's mouth reluctantly pulling away and moving down my body, working over my breasts, joined by a nude Andrea, a mouth on each breast and their hands wandering until I'd been writhing in response to the sensations running through me.

Finally they'd worked their way back up until I was kissing and cuddling them both for a while, just whispering silly things to each other until, at a word from Mikki, Andrea moved up a bit and Mikki guided Andrea's breast into my mouth before rolling Andrea onto her back and joining me in trying to drive her wild, something we'd done to my immense pride.

We'd laid there for a short while before I found myself on my back, Mikki and Andrea lying between my thighs as they cooperatively tagged teamed me, driving me through a long, rolling series of orgasms until I'd begged them to stop, I couldn't take any more. Finally coming down enough to recover, I remembered that they'd done the same thing to me that first night and I'd felt bad afterwards that they'd done all the work; I looked from one to the other and spoke up.

"I want to do the same to you" Andrea had nodded and spoke.

"Fair enough" With that she'd looked to Mikki. "Swap places with Amy love" Mikki and I moved around before Andrea beckoned me to join her between Mikki's legs. "Watch what I do then do the same, it's easy" I nodded, watching as she moved in and her tongue lashed out, scooping its way up Mikki's closely trimmed pussy, gathering the wetness there, even as Mikki writhed and groaned in response. Andrea pulled back and smiled at me, drawing me closer with a beckoning finger and a wicked smile. "Your turn"

I leaned in past her, moving slightly to get comfortable and copied her action, getting a sharp taste on my tongue, unlike anything I'd tasted before, I spent a second or two tasting Mikki before deciding I liked it, diving back in for another go, sliding my scooped tongue up the length of her pussy, getting another taste and deciding that I could more than get used to this, after all it was nothing like tasting a guy, it lacked that salty harshness.

"Good" It was Andrea. "Now lean back and let me show you what she really likes" I did so and watched as Andrea's tongue lashed across Mikki's erect clit, drawing a long, drawn out ' _oh fuuuck_ ' from the top of the bed as her hips involuntarily rose. Andrea pulled back and looked at me. "Now you try that"

I don't know how long we shared Mikki together; the lessons had melded into an all-out pussy-eating session, with both of us working away at her together, when we weren't kissing each other that was, Mikki's taste on our lips and tongues. We'd finally driven Mikki to a prolonged climax; she was a quiet one, not screaming, instead her body shaking like a leaf as she quietly moaned, giving me a sense of satisfaction, one I'd shared, together with a smile, with Andrea.

That had set the tone for the night, before long I was soon ensconced between Andrea's thighs, demonstrating to my teacher that I'd been a good student. Not long after I'd started I felt my legs being pushed apart, glancing down to see Mikki settling between them before she'd returned the favour. I don't know how long we'd been like that, before Mikki had suggested trying something she'd seen in a porno flick once; we ended up in a triangle, each eating out the other, Mikki eating me as I went down on Andrea who was doing the same to Mikki in turn.

We'd stayed like that for ages, each lost in a haze of arousal and heat and rolling climaxes, until we'd finally collapsed sometime after 1.30; at least that was the last time I remember looking at the clock. Now though I just lay here for a bit feeling warm, comfortable and very, very lazy, for a while I just lay there just enjoying the warmth of a nude body snuggled against my front, the slight, rhythmic rise and fall of her breathing telling me Andrea was still out cold, hardly surprising, given we'd gone hard late into the night and she was a good few years older than us, Mikki was already up and gone, leaving us to sleep, the thought bringing a slight smile to my face.

Realising I couldn't stay there, no matter how much I wanted to my bladder was telling me something else, I carefully disentangled myself, moving slowly to not wake Andrea before I retrieved my panties from the floor and borrowed a light robe hanging on a hat rack thingy in a corner, one of several robes there. It was probably one of Andrea's given that on me it was so short it barely covered my ass. Passing on using the en-suite and risking waking her I carefully slipped out, looking for a bathroom and found one at the end of the corridor where I relieved my bladder and rinsed my mouth out to get the sleep taste out of it. That done I wandered out into the main part of the house, finding Mikki in the kitchen making breakfast, seeing me there I got a cheery good morning as she wandered over smiling, then leaned in and kissed me deeply. I was a fraction hesitant for just a moment but Mikki just gave me a wicked smile in return.

"I might remind you it was my mouth between your thighs multiple times last night, so you can't say I haven't kissed you before" I felt myself blushing slightly at her words but really couldn't argue with her logic either, reminding myself that I'd equally been between her thighs plenty of times last night as well, so I just shrugged and smiled.

"True" With that I leaned in and gave her one back; it was chaste for barely a second before her tongue demanded entrance, something I happily granted. I don't know how long we made out there in the kitchen but it was nice, her lips were soft and I could feel them smile against mine before she finally ended it.

"Much as I'd like to do that all day, I have breakfast to make" I nodded as she pulled back, taking her in, she was wearing a tight baby blue tee and a pair of running shorts, clinging tightly to her ass, much to my newfound interest, given I knew exactly how tight and toned that ass really was…

"Can I help?" Mikki nodded towards an obvious pantry door.

"Can you dig out three coffee cups and the coffee plunger please, the coffee's in the cupboard next to the fridge" I did as she asked and got the stainless steel kettle filled and on one of the gas jets as Mikki expertly started whipping up bacon, scrambled eggs and grilled tomatoes, the smell from the bacon making my mouth water.

We desultorily chatted until the jug boiled at which time I was told to go wake Andrea up, I turned back towards the bedroom to find the woman in question leaning in the kitchen doorway in a fluffy blue bath robe embroidered with the Tweety Bird cartoon character, watching us, a happy smile on her face at the domestic situation facing her.

"Good morning Andrea" Her smile widened.

"Yes it is" Mikki looked over at her.

"Good timing Mi Amor, breakfast is almost ready" Andrea wandered over, giving me a deep kiss that went on for a few seconds before she pulled away, looking up at me and smiling happily, something I couldn't help returning before she wandered over to Mikki and gave her the same treatment. Finally she pulled away and wandered over to the fridge, retrieving a milk carton and pouring herself a long glass before draining half of it, then looking over at us.

"I was woken up by a particularly unpleasant feeling, I was all alone in bed" She pouted, looking so silly that I chuckled along with Mikki at the sight of a grown woman pouting like that, drawing a smile from her.

"Sorry, but breakfast won't make itself" Mikki shrugged. "Unfortunate really, you'd think there was an app for that" I smiled and nodded.

"Given there's not a coffee shop in the building, someone had to make it" Andrea made a play of thinking about it.

"The defence has valid points and it will be considered before sentencing" I smiled.

"And what's the likely sentence, given the magnitude of the crime?" Andrea smiled wickedly at me.

"A custodial sentence, to be served back in bed"

"With hard labour?" Mikki asked from the stove.

"Very hard labour" Andrea said as she smiled at us both as I nodded slowly.

"Tough, but fair" I said. "When does sentencing start?"

"Right back after breakfast, I want my morning cuddles" Andrea stated as Mikki and I shared a smile before she shrugged nonchalantly.

"Will there be time off for good behaviour?" Andrea chuckled softly at Mikki's question before answering.

"You'll have to be very, very good" I smiled at that.

"Challenge accepted" We smiled happily at each other before Mikki spoke up.

"Breakfast's ready" She started pulling plates out as I hastily made coffee and Andrea grabbed cutlery and a couple of minutes later we were happily demolishing breakfast, it seemed I wasn't the only one who'd worked up an appetite.

Three hours and half a dozen orgasms shared around later we ended up having a quiet, lazy morning sprawled in bed talking about everything and nothing, it was all easy and fun and I loved every minute of it. Finally though, with a regretful look at the clock; it was well after midday, I sighed and told them I'd have to head home soon, I had to do the washing, drop in and pick up my dry cleaning and get a set of clothes ready for tomorrow. They'd both been cool about that; though Mikki had told me to bring another set with me next time.

"Next time?" I'd asked, trying not to sound too hopeful, though Andrea's smile suggested I'd not been too good at that.

"If you want a next time, we want it too, whenever you do" Part of me wanted to ask ' _tonight?_ ' but reluctantly I just nodded before replying.

"I'd love to whenever you will have me" They exchanged a look before Mikki spoke up.

"We weren't joking, we had fun last night too, so we'd be happy to do this as often as you're comfortable with" I nodded, given how comfortable this was I really didn't want to leave but baby steps first I reminded myself.

"How about next weekend, or maybe earlier if you'd like?" Mikki and Andrea nodded to each other before Mikki spoke.

"Yeah sure, if we can hang out that long" The thought that they'd be as interested as I was at doing this again made me smile happily, until Mikki got an evil gleam in her eye. "Until then we'd better leave on a high note" With that she flicked one finger across my nipple, sending a jolt through me. "Something to carry you through till next time" she said as she moved over me.

An hour later and we were finishing off a coffee before I headed off, commenting that I needed a shower, Andrea immediately offered me the use of hers but I didn't want to impose on their hospitality so I told them I'd have one when she I got home, hearing that Mikki had smiled evilly and spoken up.

"Ours is better'. I'd looked to her and frowned a little.

"How come?" Andrea had grinned at me.

"Ours comes with us" With that they'd dragged me into the bathroom for a shower and double fuck that left me completely shattered. It turned out I didn't get home till much later that afternoon, having agreed that we'd spend as much time together as we'd like and were able as we explored where this thing we had would lead us.

It was strange and unusual and kinky and honestly a little scary, but I couldn't wait to find out.


	47. Chapter 47

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **47 Compiling a Case**

 **District Attorney's Office, County of Los Angeles**

Andrea's viewpoint

"Hi Alex, got a moment?" She looked up at my greeting, seeing me standing in the doorway to her office and sat back, looking a little relieved actually as she beckoned me in.

"Sure, why not, this case is doing my head in" She waved at the papers strewn across her desk as I moved inside, shutting the door, and relieved to have a chance to ease into the news I was here to pass on, I gave her a head tilt as I sat.

"Oh?" I asked, getting a head shake as Alex explained, gesturing at the various piles of paper.

"A messy four-way case between the City, LA County, the California legislature and the Feds over who is responsible for the wildfires, the Feds are claiming negligence by the State in managing the forests and the fuel load, the State is denying it and looking to scapegoat the city and county" I nodded, that sounded potentially very ugly, something I stated.

"Messy, especially given the potential liability claims from homeowners and businesses if someone's found liable, plus all the lives lost. It's not my area thankfully, how come you got stuck with it?" She pulled a face.

"I majored in criminal law but one of my minors was in governmental law, so Annesley decided it should be my case…"I nodded, remembering that now from my discussion with her when we were setting up her secondment. Alex made a ' _what can you do_ ' gesture. "I never expected it to come back and bite me on the ass like this this after all these years prosecuting" I hit her with a quick grin.

"That'll teach you to be a chronic over-achiever, like they say no good deed goes unpunished" Alex gave me 'the look' but it didn't work, I just sat there grinning at her, even as she finally nodded and smiled a little ruefully.

"Yeah, so a nice little inter-governmental case is coming, though I doubt it will go anywhere near a court for at least six to twelve months" she grimaced. "The politician's will handball it back and forth looking to pin the blame on someone else"

"The blame, and the liability" I added, getting a rueful nod.

"Especially the liability, given the lives lost" She pulled a disgusted expression. "Hence the duck-shoving as each tries to find someone else to be the scapegoat" I nodded.

"A legal version of musical chairs" I commented.

"Exactly, and the one without a chair is likely to wear it all" She said, I thought that over for a second then spoke.

"Is that likely?" I asked, drawing a frown.

"Probably not, wildfires out here are pretty bad and the property damage can be huge, plus this is a fundamental clash between state's rights and the overall Federal forestry management mandate, plus the interactions with the city and county" She shrugged eloquently. "No one will want to be saddled with sole responsibility for it"

I nodded, that sounded like a case from hell, mind you if anyone was the right person for this job it was Alex. Far too many people gawked at her looks, snuck peeks at that toned runner's ass and long, strong legs and her hair-porn blonde locks and immediately tagged her as eye candy, in my mind that simply tagged them as idiots. From working with her on the WitSec case and ever since, I knew Alex's outstanding conviction rate was because she was smart, determined and always prepared, putting long hours in to make sure she wasn't just across her brief but knew it intimately, she was driven to win, something I respected deeply. Didn't mean I couldn't tease her though.

"Sucks to be you then" I got a smile and an eye roll before she sat back.

"Anyway, you didn't wander in here to listen to me ramble, what's up?" I smiled, a little sheepishly, given what I was going to tell her.

"Ah yeah, well. Just a request, really, if you don't mind that is" I got a raised eyebrow, not surprisingly as we were normally a lot more direct with each other, it's something I liked about her.

"Yeah sure, what is it?" I smiled, though it felt just a little bit faked before I jumped in the deep end.

"Well, the next time we come over, it won't just be the two of us, we'll have a third" I saw her frown slightly before she spoke.

"Oh, do you have a visitor"?" I shook my head, feeling my cheeks warm, something that Alex obviously noticed as she leaned forward a bit. "Hmm?" I tried to play it off, not all that well obviously.

"No, no, nothing like that, just that well…Amy will be with us" I could see her think that through for a second.

"Amy…is that Amy Sykes, the detective in Sharon's squad?" I nodded at her question and the follow up. "You're friends now?" I'd thought about my answer, but in the face of the honest interest in those clear blue eyes the best I could come up with was…

"Well, I suppose you could put it as friends…well more than friends actually" I could hear the curiosity in her voice.

"Friends…with benefits?" she asked, one eye brow lifting. I smiled, a little sheepishly.

"Some might call it that, but I think it might be a bit more than that" Her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward and took me in then came right to the heart of the matter, something which was very Alex.

"You're sleeping with her, with both of them actually, aren't you?" I nodded, still a little embarrassed to be honest, I mean I used to be what I'd considered a good girl, now I was in the middle of a happy little lesbian ménage à trois…

"Well, yeah, pretty much" Alex looked like she was caught between humour and outrage, outrage won as she leaned further forward.

"You mean to tell me you've got Mikki and Amy, both of them, in your bed, together, on a regular basis?" Instead of replying I gave her a shame-faced nod as she pushed on. "You greedy bitch" I held up my hand.

"I didn't plan it, it sort of just happened" That cut no ice with Alex.

"How exactly did it happen, you walk in to find Mikki and Amy naked in bed and decided to jump in?" I shook my head to dispel that thought

"Nothing like that, she was lonely and we liked her and …well one thing led to another" I got a sceptical look and right there decided that telling Alex that her and Liv were in a way partially responsible for the situation as it had worked out, given their little performance out by the pool, probably wasn't the best approach, instead changing the subject. "Anyway, I thought I should let you know, so you weren't surprised when we all turned up together" The look on her face said Alex wasn't going to let it go that easily.

"What's your secret Andrea, enquiring minds want to know" She shook her head. "You already had Mikki and she's hot as and now Amy, she's pretty impressive too" I smiled.

"What can I say I have wicked lesbian skills" Alex rolled her eyes, seriously if they'd gone any further back in her head she'd have done herself an injury, before she shook her head and spoke.

"If you say so" she said drily then looked at me with honest curiosity. "How exactly does that work?" I looked at her quizzically. "I mean I get it, you're in a detective sandwich, but how exactly do you make it all happen?" I tipped my head at her, encouraging her to explain what she meant. "Doesn't someone miss out?" she asked; I shook my head, happy to dispel that notion.

"Not normally, we share everything" I got a flat stare and a deadpan question.

"Everything?"

"Well, yeah, pretty much" Alex was silent for a while, just staring at me, I could guess where her mind had gone before finally, she shook her head.

"I'm not sure if I should congratulate you on bedding two gorgeous woman at the same time, or wish you luck, you're going to need it" I grinned, Alex was okay with it.

"Luck, how come?" I asked, not getting what she meant. She favoured me with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk.

"I mean how much sleep do you get, honestly?" I chuckled with relief at that.

"Honestly, not as much as I used to, but I sure sleep soundly" Alex nodded slowly.

"Exhaustion tends to do that" she said drily. We exchanged smiles for a moment before she asked a question. "Is this just for me, to keep on the low down, or can I tell people?" I waved her concerns away.

"No, I just thought telling you was a quick way for the others to know" I nodded towards the closed door. "I don't want it known around here just yet, but it's different with our friends" I got a nod.

"Oh okay, I'll let them know but also to keep it between us" she said as I smiled.

"Thanks"

"Not a problem" She shook her head then spoke. "Wow, both of them" I smiled happily.

"I'm really lucky" She nodded slowly at that truth, then replied.

"Yeah, you are, and so are they" I blushed at that as Alex regarded me for a moment before I checked my watch and, realising I had to get moving to make my next meeting, stood up.

"I have to go, I have a bail hearing to attend" She nodded.

"Okay" I turned to the door and opened it before her question turned me back to her.

"How exactly does it all work, I mean two, I get that sure, but three…?" I smiled, forming a ring with both hands, one reversed so the fingertips of one hand matched up to the thumb of the other, completing the loop.

"Hakuna Matata girl, the circle of life"

I saw her think about that for a second before it obviously hit her, recognition in her eyes as her mouth formed a silent 'oh', the sight making me smile a little more mischievously before I slipped through the door and headed back down towards my office, letting a huge grin out to the empty corridor.

I didn't get one up on Alex all that often so it was really nice to do so, making yet another reason to be grateful for what had happened.

I walked back to my office with a spring in my step; life was good, real good.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Headquarters**

Tucker's viewpoint

"You're here to see who again?" the desk cop asked again.

"We're NYPD Internal Affairs, we've been sent to talk to your IA people; didn't you get the message to expect us?" The young officer looked up from his computer and shook his head at the overbearing IA Lieutenant standing in front of him frowning.

"No Lieutenant, nothing's listed here" Tucker shook his head, playing at exasperation even as he recovered his NYPD badge and IA identification, seeing Davis following his lead and copying him, smart kid.

"This was supposed to be something agreed between your Chief and our Commissioner, closer cooperation between the two biggest police forces and all that, it was agreed to at the top" Nothing like involving the top brass to make a young cop sweat he thought.

"Sorry about this Sir, I really am, it's just there's nothing here to confirm your arrival" Tucker shook his head as he replied, playing up the annoyance.

"Well that's just great I tell ya, we fly all the way out here, in coach I might add and get left high and dry, stuck out here" The cop nodded sympathetically.

"It's probably an oversight, who were you supposed to be seeing?"

"The deputy head of IA, he's expecting us, or so we were told, unless that got forgotten too" Tucker leaned forward conspiratorially, lowering his voice a little. "Is this kinda standard round here for visitors? I'd heard the LAPD wasn't like this" The officer, Coombes according to his name tag, shook his head.

"My apologies Lieutenant, I'll try and arrange someone to come and get you asap" Tucker was keeping his eye out, stringing it along long enough to see someone standing near the elevators and someone else approaching the gates.

"Yeah, that'd be good" He saw a female officer walking his way, she passed the desk with a nod as the desk officer pushed a button and the gate opened, giving Tucker the chance he needed. "Hey! There they are, c'mon Davis, we're already late" He stepped forward, crowding in after the female cop and beckoning Davis even as he turned to the desk cop. "They're over there, thanks for your help"

Davis and Tucker stepped through right behind the female cop and strode away, leaving the patrol officer looking after them, confused. They were cops, NYPD Internal Affairs, so it would be okay, wouldn't it? Unsure of himself he frowned and decided to take it up with his Sergeant when she got back from her break.

Tucker kept walking then looked at Davis, giving him a smirk.

"Told ya, now let's find this Major Crimes section and lower the boom on Benson"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I was sitting in the electronics room with Buzz, reviewing interview tapes before I appeared in court, refreshing my memory before appearing to testify at the trial of a UCLA student we'd arrested last year, he'd killed his wealthy parents to inherit their money after they had reduced his allowance as his grades fell. A damned stupid plan on his part, but he'd become a heavy steroid abuser and wasn't thinking particularly rationally when he'd enacted said plan. His lawyer was trying to argue diminished responsibility, but Alex had snorted at that and practically tossed them out of the conference room. As she'd put it, pithily but accurately, that would be like a drunk driver trying to get off manslaughter charges on the basis of diminished responsibility due to the fact they were an alcoholic and claiming it was all the fault of the alcohol companies.

No matter what the defence might try and claim, Alex and I were going to send him away for a very, very long time. In the meantime Buzz and I were chatting as we worked, he was good company, quiet in a team of often-loud extroverts, but I respected him, not just for the always high-quality work he did but for the good friend he was. The current subject had turned to body cameras, of which Buzz was, perhaps not-surprisingly, an advocate.

"I see it this way Chief, it mightn't be a bad thing if the team wore body cameras, at certain times, like the ones the traffic cops are wearing" He waved at the screen. "That would give us a record of each arrest in case it's needed in court, and in a use of force investigation it might make all the difference" I sat back and thought about it, not all cops liked them for lots of reasons, some of them even good ones. On the other hand there were also a number of good reasons to wear them. I thought about it for a moment longer then glanced his way.

"Maybe not for everyday use, but maybe you're right, wearing them for arrests and going into tense situations might be useful" I grimaced as I thought about it, imagining some of the responses from the team's members then shrugged. "I'll try and talk it over with the team, probably at the next team meeting" I smiled. "Not everyone's as comfortable behind a camera as you" He glanced my way and smiled widely.

"Well, we can't all be the next Spielberg or Eisenstein" I smiled fondly and shook my head as I looked down at the papers on the desk, looking for the next section as I paged though my notes.

"What's that all about?" Distracted, I looked up at Buzz's muttered comment.

"Hmm?" He pointed to the monitors, Interrogation 1 was empty but Interrogation 2 was a different story, Liv was sitting in there and if her body language was any guide she wasn't happy, leaning forward, one hand gripping the table edge tight enough her knuckles were white.

There were two other people in there, a young black guy in a suit, maybe late twenties, the other an older white guy, hard-faced with salt and pepper hair, also in a suit; the posture the older guy was showing as he spoke was hostile with both men standing over her, trying to be intimidating. I glanced at Buzz and made an 'up' hand gesture, he nodded and suddenly Liv's angry voice filled the electronics room.

" _The only thing you're proving is that you're an obsessive whack job; this interview is over_ " As she went to stand from the chair she was in the older man quickly shoved her back down chair and spoke.

" _You get up from that chair and you can kiss your badge goodbye, I'll see you dishonourably discharged from the NYPD and do everything in my power to make sure you never wear a badge ever again_ " I reared up out of my seat and looked to Buzz.

"This is all being recorded isn't it" He nodded quickly as Liv spoke.

" _You've already tried, you and that corrupt bastard Thomas, if you could have you'd have already done it, so don't make threats you can't back up_ "

"Every word" Buzz said as the older guy on the monitor scowled and spoke.

" _Fine, bitch, but I'll get your girlfriend disbarred; Thomas will make sure she'll never practice again_ "

I threw Buzz a glance as I headed for the door.

"Keep recording, we're going to need that tape"

I was already gone before he could respond.


	48. Chapter 48

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **48 Internal Affairs Harassment**

Olivia's viewpoint

I was walking back into Major Crimes when a young guy I didn't recognise; maybe late twenties, who'd been standing in the corridor straightened up on seeing me, stepped into my path and spoke.

"Detective Davis; sorry to bother you Sergeant but you're needed in there" He pointed at one of the interrogation rooms as I frowned, wondering what was up and asking.

"Why, what's happened?" He smiled and shrugged.

"Just the messenger Sergeant, I was told to come and get you" Frowning I turned and walked into Interrogation 2, my frown deepening when I saw no one there, turning as the door shut behind me, leaving me with the young guy and someone all too horribly familiar, as was the sudden ball of ice in my stomach.

"Tucker?!"

"Benson, so nice to see you again" Lieutenant Ed Tucker, NYPD Internal Affairs and my own personal nemesis smirked at me. "Have you been enjoying your little holiday out here in La-la Land, the nice little life you've built out here?" He leaned in. "I hope for your sake you have because it's going to come to an abrupt end, I'm gonna tear it all down" I couldn't hide my surprise.

"Jesus Tucker, what the hell are you doing here?" His smirk widened, he must have wanted to surprise me so badly and was obviously delighted to have done so.

"Letting you know that you can't hide from me, I can prove you're dirty and I'm gonna drag you back to New York, in cuffs if you resist, which I kinda hope you do" I frowned as something occurred to me.

"More to the point, how the hell did you get in here without a pass and an escort?" I asked, drawing a shrug from Tucker.

"I don't need a pass to fuck you over Benson, like I said, you can't hide from me" He waved at the chair. "Sit down Benson while we discuss your return to New York"

"Like hell" I said angrily.

"You have a choice Benson, you agree to return to NY immediately with us or you'll be extradited back to face charges which practically guarantees a guilty verdict"

"What charges?" The young guy put his hand on my shoulder and went to push me into the chair, I tensed my muscles and stiffened, stopping him dead as I gave him my filthiest look; it wasn't Jane's patented 'Cobra Stare' but the message got through, he removed his hand.

"Sit down Benson or we'll skip straight to the extradition" Wanting to hear more I reluctantly sat. "There, you do know how to do what you're told" Ignoring his triumphant smirk I asked him something that'd been bothering me since he'd first appeared in my life.

"What the hell is your problem Tucker?" I shook my head. "I'd never even heard of you before you first dropped yourself into one of our cases years ago back in SVU; despite your best efforts I've been cleared in every investigation ever held, none of your stupid accusations have ever even looked like sticking" Tucker just grinned at me as if my outburst was welcome, perhaps in his mind it was, a sign his stupid psychological games were getting to me, before he responded, his voice full of false bonhomie.

"Deputy Commissioner Thomas sends his regards" I didn't bother hiding my disdain, Internal Affairs Commissioner Thomas had been the one who'd told me he would break me, destroy my career, see me run out of the NYPD and be left begging in the streets, plus he'd threatened Alex too, all because one of that ambitious bastard's most vocal political backers had turned out to be a pedophile, something that had turned up in a case I'd worked on, the public revelations pretty much crippling Thomas' political aspirations. I thought I'd actually been remarkably restrained at his threats, especially the ones about Alex; after all I'd not shot him dead where he stood. My answer pretty much summed it all up.

"Tell that prick to go fuck himself" Tucker grinned down at me; it wasn't a very pleasant sight.

"You're dirty and I've got the proof" he stated as I shook my head, my temper, never a sure thing, getting dangerously short.

"Bullshit. There's nothing to find, I'm clean" I shook my head at his stupidity. "Besides if you had something you could pin on me I'd have been notified of it formally through my Captain back in New York, so given I haven't heard anything from Cragen, you're lying, again" I smiled up at him and continued. "Put up or piss off" He looked at me, the anger visible in his eyes.

"I decided I didn't want to spoil the surprise, so I came all the way out here to collect you myself" He smirked nastily then continued. "I have an informant who will testify that you took a bribe, plus another witness who saw it all" I sat back stunned. I'd never taken a dime my entire life, about the only thing I'd ever been given and accepted was a coffee or an apple, back when I'd walked the beat with Kate. Suspicious, I leaned forward.

'And where the hell did you conjure up this mystical bribe Tucker, and the equally mystical witness that saw me take a non-existent bribe?"

"I have a witness who saw you being paid off by a drug dealer, I always knew you were dirty Benson and now I've got the proof to fuck you over" I screwed up my face…a drug dealer? I had no idea what the hell he was talking about.

"Where the hell was that?" I demanded; something Tucker was only too happy to answer.

"Back in late 2004, he saw you accepting money from a guy in a bar in Queens" I thought furiously…Queens, when was I in Queens, let alone a bar? Then it struck me and I started laughing, laughing even harder as I saw the confused expression on Tucker's face until, finally, I managed to calm down enough to speak.

"Oh you stupid sorry son of a bitch, the last time I was in a Queens bar was when I was working an undercover sting operation with Vice and the Feds. Sure, I took money, from a dealer looking to run drugs through a supposed string of prostitutes I'd told him I was running" I shook my head. "If you're looking for evidence of that, it shouldn't be hard to find, after all the wire I was wearing caught everything" The look on his face was priceless, like a young kid who'd just been told Santa didn't exist, all wide eyes and open mouth. Finally he pulled himself together enough to speak.

"Wire…?" I smiled at him nastily as I replied, not bothering to hiding the scorn.

"Yes a wire you moron; it was a sting op and he'd just got caught. The Feds decided to not prosecute him as they were after his supplier, so I ended up handing the money back and told him my bosses didn't want to bring the heat down on their prostitution ring" Tucker's face had been an interesting array of expressions, settling on anger as I poured even more scorn on him. "If that's all you've got you've got nothing you obsessed idiot" I turned a mocking smile on him. "Thomas will like hearing how you've fucked this up" My smile twisted into a mocking smirk. "Again" I regarded him pityingly and shrugged. "It's becoming a habit for you" He snarled down at me.

"It's enough to get you dragged back to New York where I can really fuck you over" I shook my head.

"Good luck trying to get that one past my bosses here" His face got angrier, he obviously wasn't used to having people laugh in his face.

"They don't have a say, I'm taking you back to New York right now" He reached behind him and pulled out his cuffs, dropping them on the table as I looked from them to him and shook my head once.

"Like hell I'm going anywhere with you" Tucker pushed his jacket back, letting me see his pistol.

"Not like you have a choice" I shook my head again, my eyes narrowing as I felt a cold anger filling me.

"Good luck on that, you try putting those on me and I'll rip your arm off and beat you to death with it" I meant every word, something that Tucker was too stupid and angry to pick up on.

"You can threaten all you like Benson, but I'll simply add those charges to your docket" I leaned forward, seeing the young guy start to step forward before I speared him with a look. He wasn't stupid, stopping where he was as I turned to Tucker.

"You can take those cuffs and shove them up your ass, I'm going nowhere with you, now piss off back to New York" Tucker shook his head.

"I know you're dirty Benson and I'm gonna prove it, once we're back home I'm gonna stitch you up so tight you'll look forward to Ryker's, well you will till the guards and the bull dykes there take turns making you their bitch" I shook my head.

"The only thing you're proving is that you're an obsessed whack job; this interview is over" As I went to lever myself out of the chair Tucker bent forward into my space, one hand on my shoulder shoving me back into the chair.

"You get up from that chair and you can kiss your badge goodbye, I'll see you dishonorably discharged from the NYPD and do everything in my power to make sure you never wear a badge ever again" I thought about ripping his arm off but decided it'd be better if I didn't, no matter how satisfying that'd be, instead I shook my head.

"You've already tried, you and that corrupt bastard Thomas, if you could have you'd have already done it, so don't make threats you can't back up" He scowled.

"Fine, bitch, but I'll get your girlfriend disbarred; Thomas will make sure she'll never practice again" I grimaced at that threat and sat back as he grinned, a little manically.

"I thought so, that little dyke lawyer's your Kryptonite isn't she? One threat to her and you roll over like a good little poodle"

"Leave her alone you miserable prick" I growled as Tucker sneered down at me.

"It shouldn't be that hard to break Cabot too, I wonder how the NY Bar association would handle knowing one of their own is a rug-munching dyke fucking a bent cop, it might make her chances of continuing to work in the criminal justice system pretty much non-existent" He grinned evilly at me. "Maybe I can get her thrown in the next cell to you in Ryker's, you can listen to her scream as the guards run a train on her" I leaned forward, my lips curling back in a snarl as with effort I restrained myself from grabbing his throat and squeezing it till he choked.

"You bastard, leave her out of it" I ground out as Tucker grinned at me.

"That's funny Benson, you of all people calling someone a bastard when everyone knows you're the real bastard here, your daddy couldn't be bothered sticking round once he'd finished sticking it to your whore of a mother, and she turned to drink with the shame of it" I grabbed the table edge, about to stand up and maim Tucker and the consequences be damned when another voice cut through, a welcome one.

"That will be quite enough!" Tucker and I both turned to see Brenda standing in the doorway, scowling furiously. "This interrogation is over" As I settled back in the chair I saw Tucker look Brenda over, contemptuously running his eyes over the slight blonde woman in the door and dismissing her as no one of consequence.

"This's an internal NYPD matter lady, nothing to concern you" Brenda looked him up and down then looked over at Tucker's partner, dismissing him with a glance before returning her attention to Tucker.

"And who pray tell might you be to wander into the LAPD without so much as a by your leave?" Tucker frowned; you could tell he was getting pissed that this woman obviously wasn't getting the message.

"Lieutenant Tucker, NYPD Internal Affairs, like I said this is an internal NYPD matter, Benson here is still a NYPD officer, at least for the moment, so close the door after you" I held myself very still, Tucker wasn't the first person to look at Brenda and misread her as Brenda surprisingly smiled, her voice as sweet as pie.

"New York Internal Affairs, and all the way out here in Los Angeles, you must have a right bee in your bonnet to come traipsing into LA, let alone into the LAPD headquarters Lieutenant" She leaned up against the door jamb. "How exactly did you get in here anyway?"

"I'm conducting an investigation, so shut the door after you" Brenda tilted her head to one side as she regarded him then spoke.

"And what exactly might you be investigating anyhow?" Tucker scowled at Brenda as he spoke.

"That's none of your concern lady, now beat it" Brenda shook her head slowly at Tucker words, sending the blonde curls bouncing over her shoulders before she replied.

"Why actually I think it is, after all have you cleared your business out here with our own Internal Affairs people?" Tucker was suddenly and noticeably silent, drawing a sly smile from Brenda as she spoke. "I thought not, otherwise Detective Sergeant Benson would have been provided with both legal and union counsel before you sat down with her, plus her commanding officer would have been notified" Tucker shook his head angrily, obviously starting to get really pissed with the annoying little woman in front of him, the fool.

"Look lady, this isn't your concern so why don't you wander off to whatever it is that you do and leave me to do my job" Brenda stared back at him for a moment then pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and hit speed dial; seconds later she spoke, her voice sharp, really unlike her normal voice.

"Jane, I need you and Mikki in Interrogation Room 2 right now!" She ended the call abruptly as Tucker watched then continued speaking to him, unperturbed. "I do believe this conversation is over Lieutenant. If you wish to further harass Detective Sergeant Benson you will do it through proper channels and with her counsel, union representative and commanding officer present, do you understand me?" Tucker was unimpressed.

"I don't know who the fuck you think you are but this is my investigation" Brenda leaned against the door jamb again and regarded him coolly.

"Not anymore it isn't" She smiled, all false Southern charm. "Let me introduce myself. Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, head of the LAPDs Major Crimes division and Detective Sergeant Benson's commanding officer" As I watched Tucker's face stiffened for a moment even as Jane and Mikki suddenly appeared at the run; when the normally extremely polite Brenda **demanded** something right now using first names, she meant immediately, if not faster. Brenda glanced over her shoulder at their approaching footsteps and nodded as she straightened up.

"Ah, Sergeant Rizzoli, Detective Mendoza" She smiled pleasantly as they skidded to a stop. "Thank you for your commendably swift response" She turned back to take us in. "This particularly unpleasant individual is Lieutenant Tucker, all the way out from the NYPDs Internal Affairs division" She waved his way airily. "He is apparently undertaking an investigation into Sergeant Benson. Mind you, given his actions are unknown to and unsanctioned by the LAPDs own internal affairs branch, and based on the extremely vindictive threats he was making, it appears he's rather more likely undertaking a personal vendetta against one of our own" She looked to Tucker and smiled at him, not in a nice way either.

"Based on what I heard he was threatening both Sergeant Benson and DDA Cabot with a range of particularly unpleasant and likely illegal fates" I saw both frown at Brenda's words and turn angry stares on Tucker as she continued. "I would like you to escort him and his partner here; I didn't get his name but I don't s'pose it's important anyway, down to Internal Affairs, make sure they don't get lost and all" She smiled guilessly at Tucker. "No need to thank us Lieutenant, why it's all part of the service we offer here at the LAPD" Obviously pissed, Tucker turned my way and snarled at me.

"Don't you go anywhere Benson, this ain't over" I reacted without thinking.

"Go to hell you son of a bitch" Tucker's snarl was immediate and he went to say something but Brenda was quicker.

"You were given an order Lieutenant, in California refusal to comply with a lawful order from a serving officer of the LAPD is grounds for arrest as a felony misdemeanor" She smiled sweetly at him, though her eyes were cold. "I am sure these officers would be more than happy to do so, am I right?" Mikki nodded; her voice cold.

"No problem, no problem at all" Jane smiled just as coldly, her voice matching the smile.

"Tucker the fucker, oh I've heard of you" She glanced at me then back at him. "I'll enjoy perp walking your nasty little ass down to booking, the long way in front of the entire building; I'd really like the chance to do it with you in handcuffs so give me any reason at all." Tucker's face had flushed red, either in anger or embarrassment I didn't know; his voice was harsh.

"I damn well refuse to be treated like this, I demand to be treated according to my rank and position" Unfazed, Brenda smiled.

"Treated like a criminal with no cause, not very pleasant is it now? Perhaps you might have a little more sympathy for Sergeant Benson's position given your petty little witch-hunt, but I doubt you have enough human decency to feel the emotion" She made a 'get up' motion with her hand. "This little interrogation is ended. You will be escorted down to Deputy Chief Heinrich's office where you can try and convince him that your persecution of a decorated officer has some kind of merit" She snorted. "That will be an interesting conversation I'm sure, especially after I speak to him about the threats you've made to the career of one of our District Attorney's" Brenda smiled cruelly, it looked wrong on her, so cold. "The tape of your little 'conversation' with Detective Benson will make interesting listening, I'm sure" Tucker suddenly paled.

"Tape" he said weakly as Brenda's smile widened a little.

"You're in an interrogation room inside LAPD headquarters, of course there's a tape" Obviously realising what that meant Tucker tried to bluster his way out of it.

"That conversation was illegally obtained" Brenda shook her head as we all watched, I was fascinated watching Brenda schooling Tucker, it was something that had been needed for way too long.

"Not when you sneak inside this building illegally it's not, but you're more than welcome to try and take that up with Chief Heinrich, good luck with that" Mikki nodded.

"You'll need it, Heinrich's about as by the book as it gets, I don't think he's gonna like you sneaking behind his back here, not at all" Brenda spoke, her voice all faux cheerful.

"Now then Detective Mendoza, why spoil the surprise, I'm sure that Mister Tucker and his accomplice here will enjoy learning exactly what Chief Heinrich thinks personally" Mikki nodded slowly, an evil smirk appearing.

"Oh yeah" At her comment Tucker's temper, never a sure thing, broke.

"Fuck you cunt, fuck you all, I don't give a flying fuck who you think you are, Benson here is still NYPD, at least till I throw her corrupt dyke ass in jail" Brenda shook her head before replying, the fake cheer all gone, her voice cold.

"I don't know exactly what your issue is Lieutenant, but I assure you I will get to the bottom of it and when I do I will see you answer for your behavior towards one of my officers" Tucker rounded on me, his face red with anger as he shoved his finger in my face.

"Don't think you can hide from me here Benson, I'll be back" I could have given any of a dozen responses but I kept it simple.

"Go to hell Tucker"

"That's where you're going, you and your blonde slut…"

"That will be quite enough!" It was Brenda. "Detective's, take Mister Tucker here directly to Deputy Chief Heinrich's office"

"Like hell you will…" Tucker started, but Brenda ignored him.

"If he gives you the slightest issue whatsoever, anything at all, if he looks at you sideways, says anything at all, cuff him and read him his rights, drag him through the entire building by his feet if you have to, just deliver him to Internal Affairs where they can deal with him" She glanced at Tucker's partner, Davis his name was I recalled, who'd rather sensibly stayed silent. "Do you have anything to add?" Davis silently shook his head, getting a single head nod from Brenda. "Wise man" She looked to Jane and Mikki. "Chief Heinrich's office, now"

"Will do" It was Mikki as Jane motioned him to get up.

"On your feet Tucker" She scooped up his cuffs from the tabletop and waved them in front of him. "Please give me a reason to cuff you, any one will do" Tucker scowled at Brenda and the others then looked at me.

"Don't try and hide Benson, I'm coming for you and your little dyke lawyer, there's nowhere you can hide from me" Before I could respond Brenda made a waving gesture

"Lieutenant, you are out of your jurisdiction, out of your depth and out of line" She shook my head. "I will see you run the hell out of my building, my city and my state and I will be filing a complaint with my chief, to be directly taken up with your commissioner on your return. This affair is ended and you are out of here"

Jane stepped forward and clamped a hand around his upper arm, the classic perp-hold, Tucker tried to shrug her off but failed as she clamped down hard and spoke.

"Any excuse Tucker, give me any excuse at all" He was suddenly silent. "Let's go" I watched in silence as Tucker and his silent shadow were escorted out then looked up at Brenda.

"Thank you, I didn't know what to do, he was threatening Alex's career" Brenda shook her head then smiled at me.

"I heard, don't you worry 'bout that though. By the time I'm finished Tucker will be out of a job and possibly facing charges" I grimaced.

"He's acting as the muscle for the NYPD's Commissioner for Internal Affairs, he's basically bulletproof" Brenda just smiled, my eyes trailing up to look out the interrogation room and after Tucker as she spoke confidently.

"Leave that to me"


	49. Chapter 49

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **49 Reminiscing**

Natalie's viewpoint

I was escorting a group of VIPs though the headquarters, something that happened reasonably often as part of my job. Naturally I was taking some imagery and video on my phone for uploading to the department's website and intranet, plus our Facebook, Twitter Periscope and Instagram accounts, all the modern communications tools we use to reach out to the public.

This group was an interesting one; instead of the usual politicians and bureaucrats we had the senior people from six other crime labs from across the country visiting; Miami, Las Vegas, New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Washington; well the last one was actually not the police crime lab, something apparently more prestigious called the Jeffersonian Institute. The woman in charge turned out to be an attractive brunette with the unusual name of Temperance Brennan; she was accompanied by a Bureau agent, apparently her husband, with the equally unusual name of Seeley Booth.

A couple of them I knew of, Brennan; the head of the crime lab in New Orleans, a striking woman named Stella Bonasera and the senior CSI from Las Vegas, Catherine Willows, had all been featured along with Maura in the now-famous Runway article. That issue had apparently been one of the best-selling issues for several years so I wouldn't be surprised if Miranda Priestly didn't want to do another one like it next year.

It turned out that all our visitors had dealt with Maura, consulting and being consulted on cases back when she was in Boston and now here in LA, so naturally when she learned they'd be attending the big forensics conference out here in LA Maura had extended them an invitation to come and visit for a tour and a meet and greet. I wasn't going to miss the chance for a story and images so I was tagging along.

In addition to Bonasera, Brennan and Booth we had a reasonably large group here, the head of the Las Vegas Crime lab; a Professor Langstrom plus Willows; a senior supervisor at the New York crime lab, Lieutenant Taylor and his senior CSI, an attractive brunette named Jo Danville; Lieutenant Caine and his gorgeous partner, Detective Calleigh Duquesne of the Miami Dade PD crime lab plus the head of the Philadelphia Crime Lab, a striking blonde, Kate Murphy, together with her red-headed senior Medical Examiner, Megan Hunt, joined a pretty M.E. from Massachusetts, Jordan Cavanagh, accompanied by a Detective Hoyt.

I have to say, as a connoisseur of the beautiful female form I found all of the women well worth a second look, even when my days were filled with people like Alex and Jane and Mikki and Maura, in particular Calleigh and Kate were sexy and certainly pushed my buttons, even though I was now a, supposedly respectable, married woman. Even if I didn't want to touch I could certainly admire them, plus in the back of my mind I was considering some of them for a suggestion via email to Andrea Sachs to pass onto Miranda for next year's Runway article, they'd be surely suitable.

We were now in Maura's forensics lab as they discussed the finer points of an analysis machine that I couldn't identify, let alone understand, so I was standing off to one side posting some earlier shots I'd taken to the LAPD Twitter feed and tagging their home organisations into the tweet when my ears pricked up as I heard Ana's name mentioned. I looked up to see I wasn't the only one, one of the visiting CSI's, Langston held up his hand.

"Pardon me Doctor Isles; did you say Special Agent Romanov?" Maura smiled and nodded as she responded.

"Yes, Agent Romanov was very helpful in arranging for reciprocal priority access to the Bureau's database of DNA registers, resulting in a significant improvement in our trace DNA matching rate and speed over our previous performance" Langstrom nodded slowly.

"Would that be Special Agent Anastasia Romanov?" Maura nodded as he glanced at his colleagues then back at her. "Formerly with the Seattle field office?" Maura frowned slightly.

"Yes that is correct. Agent Romanov is the Bureau's Liaison Officer to the LAPD" She indicated me with her hand. "Ms Dearing here is Agent Romanov's wife" Langstrom turned to me and nodded, as did Lieutenant Caine from Miami and Lieutenant Taylor from New York, who spoke up, his voice quiet but serious, much like his personality.

"Pardon me Miss Dearing, but would it be possible to speak with Agent Romanov?" I nodded slowly, wondering why this was suddenly so important to them.

"Yes, of course, Ana should be upstairs in her office" I waved my cell. "I can call her" I paused then asked the question. "May I ask why?" The three shared an intense look before Langstrom spoke.

"We need to repay an old debt" That just left me even more confused but I nodded and dialled Ana, one quick conversation later I ended the call and looked round.

"She's up with Major Crimes, talking to Chief Johnson, she'll be finished in another fifteen minutes or so, so we can either wait here or head up, Major Crimes has a large conference room we can use" Maura nodded.

"That allows us enough time to complete the tour here and we can then escort you up to Major Crimes' floor" We got nods from everyone and a few minutes later we were shepherding them into the elevators. I hadn't had a chance to ask what his was all about or speak to Maura; instead we exchanged a quick series of confused looks as everyone filed into the elevators for the ride upstairs. We got everyone's attention as we entered the room, I mean there were a lot of attractive women in the group, however one reaction surprised me.

"Mac!" It was Olivia, standing by her desk, a smile on her face as the intense detective from New York turned at his name.

"Liv Benson" He smiled widely. "I heard you'd moved out here" They walked over to each other and shook hands, both obviously happy to see each other. Liv nodded happily.

"Yeah, Alex and I both" She shrugged. "We both needed some time away" Mac nodded once, obviously he know what she was saying, something he proved when he turned to the watching group and introduced her. "This is Sergeant Olivia Benson, formerly of the 16th Precinct Special Victims Unit; we worked together earlier this year to shut down a child sex ring in New York" He turned back to her. "It's good to see you; you look a lot better than the last time I saw you" Liv typically played it off.

"A hell of a lot better than you" She looked round. "Mac here took two rifle rounds to the back when we stormed the place the traffickers were holed up in; fortunately he was wearing a vest with the trauma plates in so he got off lightly all things considered" Mac nodded.

"Beckett and I got hit, unlike Benson here who walked through that whole mess without a scratch" He smiled, a little sardonically. "How are you doing Liv?"

"I'm doing well Mac, we both are" She turned to look at Jo Danville and nodded. "Hey Jo" They exchanged smiles as they reached out to shake hands.

"Hello Olivia, it's good to see you"

"You too" Liv smiled a little wider as she continued. "Incidentally, Kate's due in shortly as well; she's attending the conference too" Jo and Mac both smiled and nodded at that info before Mac replied.

"Cool, the gangs all here" He shrugged a little. "Only one missing is Jordan" Liv nodded.

"Yeah, don't think she's out here for the conference, unfortunately" Seeing us listening in she explained. "Jordan Shaw was the FBI senior agent who worked that case with us. Kate, Mac, Jordan and I, with Jo here and the other forensics people, it was a hell of a case" I nodded to myself, remembering what Ana had told us about that case, she'd spoken to Kate, to this Jordan Shaw, and both Alex and Liv, from what I'd heard it had been horrible, all those dead kids… There was a few seconds quiet before I realised I needed to do some introductions so I stepped forward.

"Let me get the introductions out of the way" I looked round and decided to start with the home team. "This is the Major Crimes team; they handle specific high profile or difficult cases for the LAPD. They're led by Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson who's in her office with Ana, so let me introduce you to the rest of the team" I introduced each member, noting Jane was missing and then ran through our visitors. "…and Doctors Kate Murphy and Megan Hunt from the Philadelphia crime lab" I glanced around. "I think that's everyone"

"Except us" I turned at Brenda's voice to see her standing behind me with Ana by her side. She nodded to everyone. "I'm Brenda Leigh Johnson, I lead this motley crew, or so they tell me, though sometimes I think it's the other way round" There were smiles all round at that as she continued. "Welcome to Los Angeles in general, to the LAPD in particular and specifically to Major Crimes" She half turned to Ana. "This is Special Agent Romanov, who I understand you wanted to speak to" I smiled at Ana, seeing the curiosity in her eyes as she took a half step forward.

"Hi, that's me. I understand you wanted to see me?" I saw Langstrom nod and step forward, as did Caine and Taylor as he spoke, that deep voice of his rolling out.

"Hello Agent Romanov. My name is Ray Langstrom, I'm with the Las Vegas Crime lab" Ana nodded and shook his hand, obviously waiting to find out what this was about as Langstrom indicated the others with a wave of his hand. "These are my associates Lieutenant Horatio Caine of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab and Lieutenant Mac Taylor of the New York Crime Lab" They each exchanged handshakes with Ana.

"Nice to meet you gentlemen, how can I help?" she said as I smiled, that was so Ana, as Langstrom spoke.

"It is not you who can help us, it is we who would like to speak with you regarding one of our cases" Ana frowned as I saw everyone watching.

"Me? I'm sorry but I don't know why, I don't think we've ever met" Caine spoke up.

"Not personally, but you were investigating one of our cases in Seattle when you got hurt" I saw Ana purse her lips at that, obviously thinking it over before speaking.

"Your case? I'm sorry but I didn't know you were involved in one of my cases" Taylor spoke.

"We were jointly investigating a sex trafficking ring that used semi-trailer drivers to shift kidnapped young women across the country, you were involved in that case back in Seattle as I understand it" I saw Ana pale a little, we both now knew what case they were talking about now; she'd nearly been killed in a fight when they'd moved in to arrest the felons.

"I remember" she said weakly as Langstrom nodded.

"I understand that you were badly hurt during the arrest, my colleagues and I heard about that at the time however this is the first time we have had the chance to speak with you" He glanced around the room. "We are deeply sorry that you were injured during that case and would like to tender our deepest apologies and sympathies for the injuries you sustained"

"We're sorry you were hurt but glad that you've recovered" said Taylor. Ana nodded and pushed out a smile, though to me it looked a little hollow.

"Yep, good as new" She looked around and saw everyone watching and made a little shrugging motion, then explained. "We got a tip off about a truck carrying a kidnapped woman from interstate. We moved in when they stopped in Seattle but the bust went sour, the bad guys split up and ran, I chased one of them but he doubled back and was waiting for me, I ran right into him and his knife" She tapped her abdomen. "He got me twice before I got him" She shrugged, showing a nonchalance I was sure she wasn't feeling. "I survived, he didn't" Caine nodded and replied.

"And for that you have our apologies Agent Romanov" Ana shook her head.

"Not necessary, I was just doing my job" Taylor dipped his head and spoke.

"Maybe, but it was our case and you got hurt helping close it, so our apologies and thank you for helping close that part of the investigation" Ana frowned and then replied.

"Unfortunately the case came to a dead end in Seattle, we picked up a few people involved back in Seattle afterwards but we ran into a dead end" Caine grimaced as Langstrom spoke up.

"That has been all too common an occurrence with that particular case, leads that either go nowhere or to dead ends and sometimes, dead people" Ana nodded but I was watching her closely, Ana wasn't showing much but I could see one hand was clenched into a fist, held low by her side where it wasn't really noticeable.

I doubt even a room full of cops noticed but I knew Ana, knew her like I knew myself, she was tense, having these people here, talking about what had happened, it made it real for her, in a way it hadn't been for her in a couple of years, not since the regular nightmares finally subsided, about a year after she'd been stabbed. Now though she was right back in it, I resolved to stay close to her for the next few days, she was going to need me.

I saw both Liv and Maura frowning too, concern visible in their eyes, others might have missed it but they hadn't, I could tell.

"Yeah, the case petered out, the leads died off and we ended up having to cold case it" Ana looked between the three men. "I wasn't aware the case stretched as far as New York and Miami though?" Taylor nodded.

"Yeah, we'd all had a piece of it, that's how we were able to tip your people off about the Seattle-bound truck" He shrugged. "Like you, that case petered out when all our leads dried up"

"Or died off" It was Caine. "Which seemed to happen a lot with that case" He smiled. "That said I'm pleased to see you've recovered from your injuries"

"And we're sorry that you were injured following up on our case" said Langstrom. "We had been informed that you had been injured as part of the after-incident report but not about your recovery" He smiled. "It's good to see you recovered" Ana nodded.

"Good as new" She smiled. "I don't think you have anything to apologise for but your kind wishes are nice" I nodded as Taylor spoke up.

"We'd like to have the chance to buy you a drink at least" He glanced at me. "Well you and Ms Dearing here too"

"If you're buying then who am I to turn down a free drink?" said a welcome voice from the door, as we turned to see Kate Beckett standing there with Jane by her side; that explained why I hadn't seen her when I had arrived, she'd been escorting Kate up.

"Beckett" It was Taylor. "Good to see you too" Kate dropped her duffel by the door and strode over, exchanging a handshake with him and then turning to Jo Danville and doing the same.

"Good to see you Jo" She looked around the room to see all eyes on her. "Kate Beckett, NYPD 12th Precinct Homicide" Stepping back into the conversation I did a quick round of introductions before Brenda took up the thread.

"Good to see you again Kate" They shook hands and smiled at each other as Kate Murphy spoke, obviously puzzled.

"How do you know Detective Beckett then Chief?" Kate and Brenda both smiled before Brenda explained.

"Detective Beckett and Sergeant Benson here used to be beat partners with the NYPD. Detective Rizzoli…" she indicated Jane standing near Kate. …and Doctor Isles here are good friends with Sergeant Benson and her partner Alex Cabot" I saw Caine and Danville both nodding at that; obviously they knew them both from that horrible case. "Doctor Isles and Detective Rizzoli came out here on secondment and are decided to stay, which brought Miss Cabot and Detective Benson out here a few months back on secondment. In turn Detective Beckett has been out to visit a few times, which is how we've met"

"With you it's consulting on each other's cases, for us it's the cases we've worked on together" said Jane, her nice summation getting nods from many of the people watching. It was Taylor who broke the silence.

"Agent Romanov, that offer of a drink still stands" Ana smiled.

"Please call me Ana, and I'd be happy to share a drink with you" She jerked her thumb at Kate as her smile widened to a grin. "I'd even be happy to sit down with this blow in from out of town" Brenda looked around and took everyone in.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, in fact I think we should all repair for drinks tonight after work" She looked around our guests. "Our local cop bar is a place called O'Malley's, we'd love to see you all there for a drink and dinner" Mikki nodded and spoke up.

"It's not bad, as cop bars go, plus they have a pretty damn good selection of international beers and wines" Andy Flynn nodded and chipped in.

"The menu's not bad, especially the grill-your-own steaks, it's pretty good" There was an exchange of looks amongst our guests before smiles broke out, Agent Booth putting it into words.

"I think that sounds pretty good. We're in" There were nods and general agreement amongst everyone at that. Brenda checked her watch.

"It's only half three, so we have at least a couple of hours before heading to O'Malley's" She looked round the group. "I understand you were visiting Doctor Isle's facilities downstairs before you came in up" Brenda smiled. "If you need to head off that's fine, but if there's anything here at the LAPD you'd like to see, just ask and we'll organise it for you" There was a quick exchange of looks around the visitors before Calleigh Duquesne spoke up.

"Chief, I understand your team handle the unusual and difficult cases?" Brenda nodded.

"That'd be us, if it's big or controversial…" Provenza cut her off.

"Or unusual…" Mikki cut in.

"He means weird"

"Or has media all over it" said Jane, giving an opening to Liv.

"By which she means celebrities"

"…then it's our case" Brenda finished, smirking. Calleigh nodded.

"I know its short notice, but would it be asking too much to get a briefing on what you do and how you do it?" Lieutenant Taylor nodded.

"That'd be useful, so yeah, I'd be in on that" Booth and Brennan exchanged a look and a nod before she spoke up.

"We too would find that interesting" Brenda's smile widened.

"We'd love to" She looked around the group. "You're all welcome to stay, if you'd like that is, and I might get Miss Dearing and Doctor Isles to give us some detail on how they work closely with us if that's all right?" I exchanged a look with Maura before we both nodded, Maura answering for both of us.

"We would naturally be delighted to" Brenda waved her arms around the room

"Please grab a seat those who are staying. Could we get some additional chairs from the conference room for our guests please detectives?" A minute or two later Brenda was standing by the whiteboard in front of our guests, all of whom had stayed.

"So as was so helpfully explained by the team, we handle the big cases that attract a lot of attention, fortunately we have a good reputation for solving them, so the public see Major Crimes' involvement as a sign the LAPD is taking a case seriously" She smiled, a little sardonically. "So our involvement in a case is sometimes as much a PR response as a crime solving one" There were nods at that as she pushed on.

"The team was formed almost eight years ago, and while the team's been reasonably stable over the years, well up until recently when some people were promoted out, we've changed a bit, including the mix of capabilities we bring to the case" She waved to where Buzz was sitting off to one side. "For example Buzz here is our dedicated imagery specialist, handling stills and video, both for case review and often for use in the actual trial should it be needed" There were a few furrowed brows at that before Jordan Cavanagh raised her hand and got a nod from Brenda.

"Is that part of the collection of forensics evidence or in addition to?" At the question Brenda smiled.

"In addition to actually; Buzz attends the scene with us, he is part of the team after all, and records the crime scene and evidence collection" I noticed people nodding as Brenda pushed on, waving Ahmed's way.

"Detective Khan here is our computer forensics specialist, he conducts online searches, cracks open phones and computers as part of the evidence collection activities, basically if it involves I.T. Detective Khan is our go to person. The man in question looked a little uncomfortable at all the attention, shrugging and playing it off.

"It is my job, I am pleased to be able to support the team" Brenda didn't let him get off that easy.

"And without his skills we wouldn't be anywhere near as effective" She smiled and indicated Mikki. "Detective Mendoza here is our liaison to the Gang Task Force, all of the team act as liaison to other specialist sections of the LAPD, 'specially given how many of our cases overlap with other sections areas of responsibility, same goes for Lieutenant Flynn here…"

As she explained how the team worked I watched our visitors, they were all paying close attention, and I could see scattered nods as they took it all in. I exchanged a glance with Ana and smiled reassuringly at her, hoping today hadn't been too stressful, I got a smile in return and a small nod, but I was sure we'd be talking later.

 **Los Angeles The Sheraton Hotel**

Simmonds closed the hotel door behind him with a careful click, took a few steps back into the hall and pulled out a burner phone. He keyed in a number and sent a random text message, the bomb he'd just finished setting up on the other side of the door included the guts of a cell phone, when it got the text it sent an electrical signal into the bomb's detonator, arming it.

Now active, the bomb's accelerometer would detect any movement, in this case the door opening, and boom, good riddance annoying cop. Simmonds was a realist, he wasn't expecting to bag more than one of his targets, any more than that would be sensational luck and he didn't trust his plans to luck, but even killing one would be worth the effort.

He still had plenty of C4, he'd been careful with how much he used here, enough to do the job and maybe just a little more, but that left more than enough to do a lot of other jobs. After the hubbub here had died down he might make his way down to Las Vegas or New York or Miami and try a car bomb to get rid of his target there, if he'd missed him up here that was.

After that, well maybe a sniper's rifle was the way to go, pick his target off from several hundred yards away and be long gone while people were still working out what the hell had just happened. It was just a matter of planning and preparation and he hadn't got to where he was without being real good at that.

He turned, pulling the long-billed ball cap a little lower on his face, he was under no illusions that the hotel wasn't full of cameras but he wasn't going to make it easy for them, he'd visited the hotel a week prior and walked the halls, checking where the cameras were and working out how to avoid giving them a clear view of his face. He then walked away from the now active bomb, the third he'd set up this afternoon, the key card he'd arranged from a staff member had worked perfectly.

The next thing was to make sure that the hotel staffer vanished, leaving no trace whatsoever tying him back to this attack.

Easy as, after all it wasn't as if he hadn't done it plenty of times before. With that he turned and walked away, smiling slightly to himself as he looked forward to ridding all them of one of those annoying cops once and for all.


	50. Chapter 50

As always, the characters here are the creation of their respective rights holders and the wonderful actors and actresses who bring them to life for us. Thanks to the powers that be for letting us play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **50 Gatherings**

Brenda's viewpoint

O'Malley's was busy; while it turned out that many of the cops were meeting each other for the first time a lot of the medical examiners knew each other through their professional networks and personal contacts. Word had spread about the dinner and we'd had a good roll out, with the people from New York, Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Las Vegas joined by the teams from Massachusetts and the Jefferson Institute. It seemed all of the M.E.s knew Brennan; she was apparently consulted by agencies across the country, reviewing evidence and providing advice and the considerable resources of her organisation to other agencies. As I watched she was deep in an intensely technical discussion with Maura and a woman from Philadelphia, Megan Hunt, who reminded me of Maura for some reason, perhaps it was the similar tastes in stylish clothes.

As I looked around I spotted other impromptu gatherings, the sort that always happened at these sorts of casual events. I could see Olivia and Kate Beckett standing off to one side, Kate laughing at something Liv was saying, probably something to do with that rogue Internal Affairs officer from the NYPD, Tucker. I'd made my displeasure known particularly forcefully to Will Pope about that odious man's activities and he'd apparently sent a strong letter of complaint to the NYPDs Commissioner Reagan.

Meanwhile Chief Heinrich had confided that he'd enjoyed tearing large strips off the interlopers I'd had delivered to his office, then going in to rub salt into the wounds afterwards. ' _Most fun I've had in ages_ ' he'd told me later. That done, he'd had his officers escort them back to their hotel to collect their gear and check out before dumping them at LAX with orders to be long gone from California before nightfall. I hadn't heard anything further from NYC, but I made a mental note to follow up on it soon, I didn't want any more visits from that particularly unpleasant individual, especially after Olivia and Alex had taken the time to explain the background to his vendetta and that of the man he was working for.

Turning my mind away from that I continued looking around O'Malley's, noting Ana was over by the grill with Seely Booth, both Bureau agents shaking their heads, no doubt sharing a story as Nat stood by Ana's side listening quietly, I'd noticed that she had been unusually attentive to Ana all afternoon and could hazard an educated guess as to the reason why. Meanwhile the obviously Greek-heritage woman from New Orleans, Stella Bonasera, was chatting to Mac Taylor and his colleague, a brunette named Danville; I recalled that it had been mentioned that Bonasera had previously been with the New York team, explaining their closeness.

Jane and Mikki were talking to a striking blonde woman from Philadelphia, the head of the M.E.s office over there, a Kate Murphy, as Khan stood with them, listening quietly. Standing in a cluster, wine glasses in their hands, Alex, the blonde woman from Miami, Calleigh someone or other and the Willows woman from Las Vegas were in a discussion with Langstrom and Caine, while Cavanagh, Hoyt, Provenza and Andrea were standing in line to collect their steaks, chatting as they did. All in all not a bad roll up, though it was notable that two people were missing; Amy and Sharon.

It had become unusual to not see Amy with Andrea and Mikki; in the past few weeks, the 'three musketeers' as Alex had nicknamed them, and which Sharon had wryly renamed the 'three Mouseketeers', had quickly become inseparable. I was still wrapping my head around the fact that Andrea was in a polyandrous relationship with not one but two striking women and that they seemed to be making it all work. I'd watched them since I'd learned they were together but they seemed to be very happy together, no hint of jealousy to be seen, instead sharing kisses and cuddles and affection openly between them when away from work, such as around the pool at Liv and Alex's place, the memory making me smile.

I'd had my doubts when I'd first found out about their little lesbian ménage à trois but all three seemed very happy so who was I to judge, especially as according to my parents I was living in sin with Sharon and going to hell for it. I'd tried reaching out to them via my momma on her birthday to try and at least have a civil relationship with them both, but she had laid a massive guilt trip on me before my daddy had taken over and told me not to talk to them until I repented my sins and cast out that wicked woman, meaning Sharon. Appalled and disgusted, I'd cast them out of my life instead, telling them that until they woke up to themselves they didn't have a daughter to whinge about. I'd ended by telling them that unless their next call was to apologise and tell me they'd accepted my choices, they shouldn't bother then angrily hung up. Following that conversation and despite Sharon's best efforts I'd been miserable about that for most of that Sunday and part of Monday, until Jane, Olivia and Mikki, no doubt called by Sharon, had dragged me downstairs to the range and we'd shot holes in targets for a couple of hours, it had been remarkably cathartic actually, making me grateful to have friends like that.

With that unpleasantness now behind me, at least to the point I could remain calm while thinking about it, in part with Sharon's love and support, I could focus on other things, such as Andrea's obviously active love life. The reason Amy wasn't here tonight with her lovers was the same as Sharon's not being with me, speaking of which...

"Shame the Commander couldn't make it" I turned to see Andy Flynn standing there with a soda in his hand and smiled, both at him and the reason Sharon wasn't here.

"Apparently the Commander is deep in an investigation into a string of armed robberies from legal marijuana stores across the city" I shrugged. "The most recent of which was earlier this afternoon" He nodded.

"I could make some sort of lame joke about dope here but they've all been done before" I nodded and gave him a half smile.

"I understand that it's legal here since the law changed but I swear those stores are like an auto-teller machine for desperate junkies and criminals both" Andy pulled a wry expression as he spoke.

"Get your fix and a stash of cash all at the same place" He shook his head. "Preaching to the converted here Chief" I nodded, Andy, like so many other police officers, held grave misgivings about the legalised marijuana trade.

"So unfortunately the Commander sends her apologies and her best wishes for a good night" At my comment he leaned in a little, his voice lowering slightly.

"How's the move working out for you?" I smiled. Sharon had finally put her foot down and insisted that as my lease was coming to an end, I was moving in with her. She'd presented no end of compelling arguments as to why it was a good idea, right down to the one that this way we'd only be cleaning one place, not two. I'd finally agreed and two weekends back we'd enlisted the help of our friends to move my stuff either to Sharon's or to Goodwill. Some of my stuff, like my bed, went into Sharon's second bedroom, displacing an older and nowhere near as comfortable one that went to Goodwill too.

I'd been concerned about the weight of some of the items like the fridge and mattress and dresser but with Jane, Ana and Liv, helped by Mikki and Amy, the move had been handled quickly and efficiently. We'd wrapped the day up with a dinner over the BBQ, marinated skewers of lamb, chicken, beef and pork and plenty of good wine and better company, it had been a good day and the results had been even better. I have to say that the reality of waking up next to Sharon each morning in the same bed made my previous fears seem a little…silly I guess. Realising Andy was still waiting for an answer I smiled happily.

"Wondering why I didn't do it a lot sooner" At that bit of honesty he replied with some of his own.

"Yeah, same here to be honest" At my raised eyebrow he shrugged and explained. "You're both obviously a lot happier, I've never seen Sharon Raydor so happy in the ten years I've known her" I nodded, he wasn't wrong; we were both settled and content in a way we hadn't been for a very long time.

"All of which makes your lives easier, am I right?" He smirked at me.

"No arguments from anyone in Major Crimes or Robbery / Homicide on that score" I smiled at that truth and held my glass out, Andy clinking his soda with my wine with a smile.

A little later I was happily chatting to Calleigh Duquesne from Miami and while the conversation was interesting in and of itself I was just enjoying her accent, it reminded me a little of home, well the good bits at least.

"So, I hope you found the briefing this afternoon helpful?" She smiled and nodded.

"It was, it's interesting to see the scope of the offences you handle, most teams specialise…" I nodded.

"Like Homicide, or Robbery or SVU or Vice…" I smiled. "There was some pushback initially about us cutting across other team's turf, and to some extent there is still a little grousing from the teams about Major Crimes taking over a case, I believe the popular term is showboating…" Calleigh nodded.

"Yeah, that's kind of understandable; no team likes another in their patch" I smiled at that accurate summation.

"Agreed, however over the years we've established a reputation for closing the most difficult cases that has overcome the worst of the objections, not all mind, but most"

"So do you call on other resources as necessary?" I nodded agreeably.

"Pretty much as needed, though between the team we have a wide variety of skill sets" She nodded as I continued explaining what I meant. "Lieutenant's Provenza and Flynn have been with the team the longest, having previously been with Homicide and Organised Crime respectively" Calleigh tipped her head as I continued. "Detective Mendoza came to us from the Special Investigative Service, a sub-set of Internal Affairs, and before that with the Gang Crime division, Detective Khan transferred in from the financial crimes section while Detective Sergeant's Rizzoli and Benson were in Homicide and Special Victims in their respective cities" Calleigh nodded and looked to me.

"And you Chief?" She gave me a cheeky smile. "That doesn't sound much like a Los Angeles accent to me" I nodded and smiled.

"Grew up in Georgia, joined the CIA after I went to university and came out with an honours degree in languages" I saw the surprise on her face and explained. "Analysts need to be able to understand not only what's being said or written, but the context behind it, so language grads are actually in high demand there" She nodded and sipped her white wine as I got back on track.

"Anyway one thing led to an another and I ended up moving from analysis to questioning defectors, it turned out I liked it, it was interesting work and I was good at it and so I got transferred from analysis and intentions to interrogations and debriefings, spent a good number of years doing that before I decided I needed a career change. I got a job with the Capital Police on the back of a glowing recommendation from the boss of the CIA and after a few years moved into Homicide there where I did well enough. I eventually got a little homesick and went back to Atlanta and worked Homicide there for a few years too before eventually getting itchy feet again and heading out to LA, and here I am"

"And an interesting career you've had out here" At my raised eyebrow she smiled. "I watched a lot of the trial and there was a fair amount of coverage about your career out here" I smiled.

"Much of that success is due to the team I am fortunate enough to lead" I sipped my wine for a moment then continued. "As you saw this afternoon not only is Major Crimes made up of some excellent detectives, but we are fortunate to have a level of support from people such as Doctor Isles, Agent Romanov, DDAs Hobbs and Cabot and others that makes the job much easier than it may otherwise have been"

"You're also friends with many of them I understand?" I shrugged.

"That part of the Defence's case was correct, even if little else was"

"Yes, I have to say, that whole trial was a revelation" She grimaced. "To think so many officers working for the cartel as enforcers, that was…distressing" I nodded.

"The corrupting power of vast amounts of drug cartel money, though given some of the personalities involved, it didn't take all that much" She nodded.

"And that woman…" I nodded, knowing exactly who she was referring to, Detective Julia Humphries, formerly of Robbery Homicide under Taylor and an A Grade, Mark 1 sociopath of the first order, the woman was a remorseless and unrepentant serial killer. "She was horrific"

"A personality that stands out even amongst the normal run of killers, rapists, psychopaths and sociopaths Major Crimes deals with" I grimaced. "The woman was a monster and I for one sleep a little easier knowing she will never be released" I shrugged. "She will likely spend much of the rest of her life in solitary" Calleigh's eyes widened in surprise, something her voice carried as well.

"Really?" I sipped my wine then nodded and replied.

"Yes, it's as much for the protection of her fellow inmates as for her, she had already maimed one fellow prisoner while being held awaiting the trial and almost killed another when she was attacked afterwards" Calleigh nodded and her voice took on a sing song tone.

"I'm not locked in with you, you're locked in here with me" I looked my surprise at her and got a cute little smile in return.

"Sorry, a quote from a movie I saw ages ago, it stayed with me" I nodded and replied.

"Not inappropriate actually, the woman is a danger to all around her and with nothing to lose on Death Row, is now even more dangerous" Calleigh shivered slightly.

"Well she's off the streets now at least, thank heavens"

I was about to reply when my cell went off, the distinctive ring tone of Despatch. Even as I dragged it out of my bag I saw my team's heads turn, they knew what that likely meant too.

Less than a minute later I ended the call and looked around the room, taking everyone in, everyone was focussed on me; our visitors, experienced as they were, picking up on my team's response and recognising what it meant, well they thought they did, not this time though.

"Can I have everyone's attention ladies and gentlemen" At my raised voice everyone went quiet, allowing me to continue. "Apparently a bomb has gone off in a room at the Sheraton hotel, a guest was killed" There were nods around the room as I relayed the info. "The guest killed was apparently a visiting police officer" I saw frowns and widened eyes even as I turned to single out one person in particular. "One Lieutenant Horatio Caine from Miami"

Heads swung as the man in question looked to me and shrugged eloquently.

"What can I say Chief; reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"


	51. Chapter 51

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **51 Explosive Introductions**

 **Los Angeles Sheraton Hotel**

Brenda's viewpoint

Approaching the Sheraton, it was obvious that the place was a mess, LAPD, fire department, paramedics; the various Fed agencies, they were scattered all over the place in all their various acronymed glory; you name it they were here, vehicles with flashing lights parked wherever they could find a space, making the hotel's approaches something of an obstacle course and painting the hotel in strobing colours of red and blue. From my own experiences I knew there's nothing quite like a bombing to bring everyone and their dog out of the woodwork, all claiming jurisdiction over some part or other of the investigation.

The combined group of my team and the visitors, they'd insisted on accompanying us given most of them were staying here anyway, made our way past the cordons and barricades and parked before we pushed through the crowds towards the LAPDs command van that was parked in what was in more normal times the hire car bay. There I left them as I climbed up the stairs and made my way inside to find it a scene of quietly well-organised chaos, a collection of uniformed officers were standing round the table in the centre of the van, I recognised the head of the bomb squad, Lieutenant Chandler, in his fatigues, Peter Collins, the head of Tactical Response was there as well, also in fatigues, both looking to Deputy Chief Kelso, normally the head of Narcotics, tonight he'd been the rostered senior officer, on call to handle major events and this sure qualified.

Colin was the right man for the job, quiet, considered, he exuded calm at a time when it would be all too easy for junior officers to be anything but, explaining the focus and sense of purpose inside the trailer. We exchanged nods as I arrived, several officers moving aside a bit to make room as Colin welcomed me.

"Chief Johnson" I nodded in return.

"Chief Kelso" He returned his attention to the map as a Lieutenant I didn't recognise spoke up as he tapped various points on the map and finished his report.

"So we've got officers at all the entrances, no one gets in except for LAPD and escorted agencies" Kelso nodded then looked at me.

"You're here early; don't tell me Pope's already assigned the investigation to Major Crimes?" I shrugged.

"Couple of reasons is all, I wasn't that far away with most of my team when we heard, plus there's a police connection so it'll probably become a Major Crimes case pretty quick" Kelso looked at me, his eyes narrowing as he nodded and replied.

'Yeah, that Miami cop that died"

"Lieutenant Horatio Caine, here for the conference" I shrugged. "It wasn't him though, he was with me when we got the call" Kelso looked surprised, then nodded and looked down at the table.

"Interesting, we haven't identified the body yet so the initial ID was based on the hotel's records and we hadn't got much further than that. I had to pull everyone out when the second bomb went off" Surprised, I peered hard at him across the table.

"A second bomb…how long ago was that?" He looked back up at me.

"About ten minutes, a staff member and a uniformed officer were checking rooms on the 12th floor for guests still in their rooms as part of the evacuation, when they opened the door a bomb went off. The staff member took the full brunt of it and was killed, the officer's on his way to Emergency with serious blast and shrapnel injuries" Kelso grimaced. "The vest kept him alive but he may lose an eye" I nodded slowly and prompted him.

"I know the first room was supposed to be Caine's, who had this one?" Kelso picked up a sheet and read a name.

"Not a cop it seems, a Doctor Walter Langstrom, visiting from Las Vegas" I shook my head, my jaw tightening.

"He's the Medical Examiner for the LVPD" I saw Kelso's face stiffen before he nodded.

"Okay, so that's two cops targeted" I nodded.

"I have both of them with me outside" Kelso nodded.

"Let's get them in" A few moments later both had joined the circle around the table as Peter Collins quickly explained why his tactical team were here. Given both bombs had gone off as the doors were opened they were preparing to rappel down the outside of the building, checking each room from the balcony's for bombs wired to the doors. Kelso rapidly brought both men up to speed.

"Your room was the first to blow Lieutenant, at 8.06" Caine nodded.

"What set it off?" Kelso shrugged.

"It seems someone opened the door to 819 and set the bomb off" Caine quickly looked up.

"819? I wasn't in 819" He fished inside his coat and pulled out a little key card envelope thing, reading the number there. "I'm in 906" Kelso frowned.

"Strange, the hotel system had you as being in 819, that's how we identified the first victim as you" Caine shook his head.

"No, there'd been some mix up with rooms and they had to shuffle me around, something about my initial room not being ready yet" I was already thinking that over.

"If it was a single explosion it might have been whoever was in 819 that was the target, but they also targeted your room Doctor Langstrom" The man in question nodded.

"I had no such mix up, I was assigned 1203" He glanced at Kelso. "That was the site of the second explosion was it not?" Kelso nodded.

"It was" I glanced at Kelso and spoke up.

"We're going to have to get a good look at the hotel's computer systems, the booking system in particular, to try and work out how the mix up happened" Collins nodded then looked to Caine then Langstrom.

"When were you last in your hotel rooms?" The two men shared a look then spoke, Langstrom first.

"I left at approximately ten AM this morning for LAPD headquarters after having breakfast in my room" He shrugged. "I met up with my colleague Catherine Willows, also from the Las Vegas Crime Lab, downstairs in the lobby and we made our way in together"

"I had breakfast in the restaurant downstairs with a colleague from Miami before heading off, so it must have been about eight this morning for me" Caine confirmed, setting off a series of grimaces around the table.

"Plenty of time to get in and get this setup" said Kelso, getting a nod from Collins.

"Could be anytime then I guess" Thinking about it for a moment I shook my head before explaining my reasoning.

"No, it had to be later in the afternoon to give room service time to pass through, then get the bombs set up" There were thoughtful nods at that before the senior bomb disposal guy, Lieutenant Chandler spoke up.

"Interesting mechanism we're looking at though, it has to be sensitive enough to go off when the doors opened, but given we're looking at only a single door into the room, the mechanism has to have some kind of delay to allow the person who set it time to pass through the door and exit, then arm" He shrugged. "Either that or some kind of remote arming system" Collins nodded and checked his watch, setting us off as we all did the same; it was barely 7.25.

"Hopefully we'll find you one to examine, speaking of which my guys are about ready to start the search so with your permission…?" I nodded unconsciously, seeing Kelso do the same and Collins turned and walked out, knowing Peter, he'd be one of the ones rappelling down the building, he wouldn't ask anyone in his team to do something he wouldn't. As he departed Kelso looked to Caine and Langstrom.

"Any idea why someone would want you both dead, dead so badly that they'd blow up your rooms in an attempt to get it?" They exchanged a look before Caine shook his head.

"There's the usual threats, back in Miami we've pissed off a lot of the cartels but a bomb in a hotel room's not personal enough for them, they prefer a shot between the eyes" Kelso nodded and glanced to Langstrom, getting a shake of the head.

"I have no cases that would result in this sort of attack, let alone here in Los Angeles" He frowned. "It would take a significant exercise to locate which hotel I was staying at, then identifying the specific room before ascertaining it was empty and then entering, setting up the device and leaving, all apparently unnoticed" We all nodded, he'd summed it up pretty well as he continued. "This was not the act of a single individual, if both Lieutenant Caine and I were targeted by the same group, a proposition I believe is unavoidable, then we are dealing with a skilled, well-resourced group" I pursed my lips, thinking it through.

"Do you have any joint cases that you're both working on right now?" They both shook their heads as Caine spoke.

"Not for a few years" Langstrom backed him up.

"Our last such case was over three years ago" I nodded as Kelso spoke up.

"Did that have a Los Angeles connection?" They both shook their heads and Caine answered.

"No" He exchanged a glance with Langstrom "Well not that we're aware of anyway" We were interrupted by another officer, a Lieutenant who'd just arrived.

"Sorry to interrupt Chief, ma'am, but I've got a guy from Homeland Security here demanding to talk to whoever's in charge, plus the media pack's got even bigger and they're getting restless too" Kelso shook his head abruptly.

"I'm not talking to the media, they can wait until Nat Dearing's here" I smiled and jumped back into the conversation, happy to put him at ease.

"She is, she was with us when we got the message" He smiled, obviously relieved.

"A piece of good news for a change" He looked to me. "Can you give her the background brief and get her to do her media magic thing while I deal with the Feds?" I nodded, knowing the pressure he was under all too well; I'd dealt with similar during the aftermath of the car bombing that night at the LAPD Ball last year. He started to look down at the map on the table then looked up suddenly. "If Dearing's with you does that mean Romanov is too?" I nodded, getting a relieved smile. "Thought so, send her in please, she can start corralling some of these Fed agencies, I still have to deal with some, but the rest she can handle"

"Will do, I'll send her in and brief Nat" I said, getting a grateful nod.

"Chief" I smiled and nodded.

"Chief" With that I led Langstrom and Caine out of the van and over to where the large group of people I'd arrived with were standing and talking.

"All right everyone, gather round" In seconds I was surrounded by a group of serious, attentive people.

"There's been a second bomb blast, this one in Doctor Langstrom's room" I saw heads turn at that, noting the concern on Catherine Willows face even as Langstrom remained impassive. "We have casualties from that one as well, a dead hotel worker and an injured officer" I glanced around then continued. "Captain Collin's people are getting ready to go down the outside of the building and check each of the hotel's other rooms for bombs without risking anyone else. In the meantime we all have work to do" I looked over to where Nat and Ana were standing together.

"Agent Romanov?" Her head came up. "Chief Kelso needs your help wrangling all the Federal agencies, could you please head inside and talk to him" I got a quick nod before she exchanged a quick kiss with Nat and left. "Miss Dearing, the Chief has asked if you would take control of the media, so can I ask you to calm them down for the moment, and tell them we'll have a statement in…what? Twenty minutes say?" She turned and took in the crowd; the light from the TV cameras forming a halo over the mob beyond the cordon and nodded.

"Let's make it thirty, I'll be back in twenty to agree what we'll tell them" I nodded and she headed their way, she could have them with my blessing. I looked for my next victim.

"Doctor Isles?" She looked my way and smiled. "When your team gets here can I ask you to start with the person who was killed on the eighth floor, room 819?" She nodded.

"Of course Chief" I looked round, taking in who was here; it was most of the team plus tonight's guests.

"Detective Kahn, you and Detective Mendoza are to locate the surveillance tapes, elevators, hallways, you know what to look for, see if we can determine who entered room 819. Also confirm who was actually in it seeing as it wasn't Lieutenant Caine as everyone seemed to think" I paused for a moment then looked to Langstrom, raising an eyebrow. "Also do the same for room…"

"1203" he supplied as I nodded gratefully.

"Yeah, 1203, thank you very much" They nodded and, assured it was in good hands, I looked for the next victims as they departed.

"Lieutenant Flynn, Lieutenant Provenza, talk to the hotel's head of security just as soon as possible please, find out how someone would have known which rooms Doctor Langstrom and Lieutenant Caine would have been staying in" I frowned. "Also find out how Lieutenant Caine ended up in room 90…" I glanced his way and he spoke up.

"906" I nodded.

"Thank you Lieutenant" I looked back to my Lieutenants who were jotting down notes. "Find out who was supposed to be in that room instead of 819, how the mix-up occurred and who did and more importantly, who didn't know about the change" They nodded and I got a pair of 'Chiefs' before they too were moving.

"Sergeant Benson, Sergeant Rizzoli" They straightened slightly and directed their attention to me. "Talk to the reception staff, find out who checked Doctor Langstrom and Lieutenant Caine in, especially how the mix up happened" I pulled a face. "The security manager might have one idea but the people actually on the desk may have another and I'd prefer it if the response wasn't coordinated" Olivia frowned.

"You think they may have something to hide Chief?" I shook my head.

"Probably not but two attempts on fellow officers lives suggests an inside job, so I'd like the info we have to be as 'unprocessed and unmassaged'…" I put it in quotes. "…as possible please" Jane and Liv exchanged a look, nodded and turned away, I noticed Jane give Maura a wink and getting a smile in return, before they were heading towards the hotel, Kate Beckett with them.

I almost called them back then mentally shrugged. All I'd heard of Beckett from Liv was that she wasn't the kind to sit on her hands when there was something happening, she was also experienced enough to avoid doing anything silly and I could trust Jane and Liv to keep her in check.

Looking round I realised that I was down to my 'guests', I was about to say something when Maura spoke up.

"That is my team arriving, with your permission Chief Johnson.?" I nodded and she smiled and turned away, I got nods from Murphy and Hunt before they turned and followed Maura. ' _For heaven's sake_ ', it seemed I was surrounded by wayward cops and coroners. Speaking of which I realised I still had a number of them standing there, all of whom were looking at me expectantly, like they were waiting for me to detail them off too, or something equally ridiculous, something I asked them.

"I suppose you ladies and gentlemen want something too?" Bonasera shrugged.

"Happy to help Chief" Brennan nodded and spoke up.

"As I understand it you have two dead victims, I would be happy to assist Doctor Isles in processing the bodies" I shook my head slightly.

"It seems Doctor's Hunt and Murphy are already ahead of you…" Brennan's head turned and she spotted Maura and the others almost at the M.E. team van. "But if you want to help…" She smiled and nodded.

"Thank you" I saw Taylor and his CSI, Danville, exchange a look before she looked to me, a question on her face, the same as Willows.

"Very well Miss Danville, Miss Willows, I don't s'pose some extra experienced hands and eyes would hurt, you and Doctor Brennan here go offer your services to Doctor Isles" They nodded and headed off as did Brennan after sharing a quick kiss with Booth. Down to a more manageable number they all looked to me before Cavanagh spoke.

"If it's all right with you Chief Johnson…" I nodded, resigning myself to the 'help'.

"The more the merrier I suppose" I got a quick nod and a thanks before she turned and left, even as Booth spoke up.

"If the number of agencies here is any indication, Agent Romanov would probably appreciate a hand, if it's okay with you Chief?" I shrugged then smiled, probably a little crookedly.

"It seems the night for it Agent Booth, but if you think you can help out, head on up and do so" I got a smile and a casual kinda-salute before he moved past me towards the milling crowd that surrounded the control van. I turned back to take in the remnant, Langstrom, Taylor, Hoyt, Bonasera, Caine and his associate Duquesne. I raised an eyebrow at them but they were impassive, making me shake my head.

"I suppose I can't very well kick you out, 'specially given two of you just had your rooms blown up and the rest of you are staying in here, right?" They all nodded and I got a few words of agreement. I sighed then waved in the direction of the hotel.

"Then you all best come with me" With that I headed for the hotel and whatever I'd find inside.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

The phone call pulled Danny Wynter away from his computer where he was going over spread sheets" their little enterprise was certainly profitable but it took up a fair amount of time, understandable as business was booming though, they were shifting almost ten times the merchandise per year than they had when they were first starting out, all of which called for more of his time. He picked up the cheap Nokia rip off, a burner phone purchased ages ago for uses like this, and answered.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end was familiar, enough so that they didn't need names.

"Hey, at least one of the bombs went off, hopefully that's less annoying cop we have to deal with" Wynter smiled, those three cops had been a right royal pain in the ass, killing anyone of them was worth a small celebration. He hadn't got to where he was though by acting hastily though.

"Good to hear, let me know when you find out which one's dead" Simmonds was similarly terse.

"Got it, later" With that the call ended and Wynter was left looking out over the Pacific Ocean as he contemplated what they'd do next to kill off their remaining annoyances.


	52. Chapter 52

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **52 Disparate Parts**

 **Los Angeles The Sheraton Hotel**

Brenda's viewpoint

Inside was eerie; to use that old phrase, 'the lights were on but no one was home'. Reception had several people behind the desk but the only people they were talking to were cops, Jane and Liv amongst them as I saw Kate Beckett standing there, watching them work. Mentally shrugging I moved on, heading for the elevator, nodding at the officer guarding the elevators. He nodded and spoke up.

"Lifts are closed to the public ma'am" I smiled.

"Fortunately we're not the public" I retrieved my badge and proffered it. "Deputy Chief Johnson, Major Crimes" He stiffened.

"Sorry ma'am" He moved aside, eyeing the others. "They're with you?" I nodded.

"That they are, they're all law enforcement too" I saw the others move coats out of the way, displaying badges or, in Bonsera's case, pull out her badge on a lanyard from round her neck. The cop looked at them, obviously noticing they weren't LAPD, then equally obviously deciding if they were with a LAPD Deputy Chief it wasn't his job to ask, and nodded, pushing the elevator call button, one opening immediately.

"Thank you officer" I said as he nodded, tapping the brim of his cap as we passed, a few seconds later we were on our way to the 9th floor. Exiting the elevator it wasn't hard to determine which way to go, the M.E. team's bright lights showing the way. Arriving I saw Doctors Hunt, Murphy and Brennan examining the body as the rest of Maura's team stood back. As I arrived they looked up and Kate Murphy stood, the light blue of the disposable gloves a contrast with her black slacks and white top.

"Chief Johnson" she said formally, drawing a nod and an equally formal response from me.

"Doctor Murphy" She half turned and indicated the body.

"We have determined that the victim absorbed the force of the explosion, the blast wave threw them across the hall where their head impacted on the light fitting on the opposite wall" I glanced that way to see a broken fitting covered in blood as Murphy continued explaining. "The initial blast was almost certainly fatal, if not immediately then very shortly after; there were severe compression injuries to the victim's major organs as well as significant shrapnel penetrations from the door fragments. However the light fitting impacted the back of the victim's skull and did a lot of damage, we've found bits of metal, glass and skull fragments in the victim's brain" Hunt looked up and spoke.

"It was a race between both injuries to determine what killed him first" She looked down at the body and shook her head. "He probably died within 30 seconds to a minute, his injuries were non-survivable" I nodded as Brennan too stood and turned to me.

"Obviously a proper autopsy will reveal more" I had to bury a smile at her words, so like Maura… "However there is one thing I will add to my colleague's comments" I looked her way and nodded.

"Please do Doctor" She indicated the doorway.

"Please note that there is relatively little blast damage to the sides of the doors or inside the room…" I looked in and saw the carpet bore scorch marks back a couple of feet, the same as the walls, but the worst of the damage was at the door jamb, as for the door it was pretty much mostly gone. "I would surmise that this explosion involved directed energy, when the device exploded the majority of the force was directed through the door and into the unfortunate victim" I nodded, looking around and taking in the wooden splinter shrapnel that peppered the wall opposite the door, the carpet and the ceiling.

"Looks very much like it" I frowned. Where was Buzz when I needed him"? I looked to one of Maura's team standing there with a camera and came to a snap decision. "Pardon me, mister…" He stiffened as he realised I was talking to him.

"Colin Hurt Chief" I nodded and smiled.

"Mister Hurt, you probably remember that my team includes a photographer, Buzz Watson?" He nodded.

"Yeah, I know him" I smiled again.

"He isn't here yet and I understand that you and your team will want to move the victim down to the morgue" He nodded in response as I continued. "So rather than waiting for him, could I ask you to please, once you've finished photographing the victim, take crime scene imagery for me, if you'd be so kind" Hunt looked a little uncertain, something his voice conveyed.

"I haven't done any of that sort of work before Chief" I smiled reassuringly.

"That's fine, I'll leave Lieutenant Taylor and Sergeant Bonasera here with you" I'd just remembered that they'd previously worked together so they should be fine. "They'll check the hotel room and the crime scene, just photograph anything they tell you to, can you do that for us please?" He nodded.

"Yes Chief" I smiled a little wider.

"Bless you Mister Hurt, that'll be a big help" I thought of something else and continued. "I'll make sure I let Doctor Isles know that you're helping us out" I looked to Taylor and Bonasera and nodded, getting nods in response before I turned back. "Speaking of which, where is Doctor Isles?" Brennan spoke up in response.

"The Doctor headed to the 12th floor where the other bombing occurred, accompanied by several others, leaving us in charge here" I nodded gratefully.

"Thank you Doctor, I'll head up there now, so I'll leave this in your capable hands, all of you" I got nods from Hunt and Brennan before I turned, catching the eye of Caine, Hoyt and Langstrom. "Let's get up and see what state your room is in Doctor" Langstrom nodded once.

"If a similar device was used there is a good chance much of it will be salvageable, once it is no longer needed for evidence" I nodded once and waved towards the elevators.

"Let's go"

It was a similar sight on the twelfth floor; Maura working over the body with Willows and Danville crouched over the body with her, her team standing back out of the way as Maura pointed something out to Cavanagh, getting a nod in return. As I approached Willows said something and Maura nodded, then stood and turned at greet me.

"Chief Johnson"

"Doctor Isles, I hope your extra assistants have been helpful?" She smiled cheerfully.

"They most definitely have been Chief" I nodded and glanced around, it looked similar to the site several floors below.

"Doctor's Brennan, Hunt and Murphy have suggested that the explosion was directed through the door and into the area directly in front of it. Does that generally accord with what you have witnessed?" Maura glanced around and frowned; she didn't like guessing, before replying.

"The injuries sustained by the victim could be consistent with such an explosion however I will need to conduct a full autopsy before I can confirm that hypothesis" I nodded, that was quintessentially Maura, even as she continued. "That said, the victim did sustain terminal shrapnel and blast injuries"

"Thank you Doctor" My cell pinged just then, checking the text I saw it was Buzz; letting me know he'd got the call and was making his way towards the hotel through heavy traffic. I directed him up to this floor and put my phone away. That reminded me.

"I borrowed one of your team, Mister Hurt?" Maura looked at me, eyes widening slightly, her head tilted slightly as she asked the question.

"Oh?" I nodded as I explained.

"Buzz isn't here yet so he's taking crime scene photos under direction from Lieutenant Caine" Maura nodded.

"A prudent suggestion, will you need him to do the same here?" I shook my head.

"Buzz is on his way, so I've asked him to come straight here" Maura nodded and I looked to Caine and Langstrom who were examining the room's entrance.

"Well gentlemen?" Caine looked up from his examination of the entry and nodded.

"The blast pattern here looks similar to the one downstairs, so a shaped charge is possible" Langstrom also looked my way.

"The limited blast effects within the wider room certainly suggest that, the worst of the damage was directed out, not in" he said, I looked round and nodded, taking in the body on the ground and the blood staining the carpet a few feet away, probably where the injured officer fell.

"So it would seem" I looked up at Langstrom and Caine. "Someone really wanted you both dead" They both looked at me and shook their heads, Caine replying.

"I have to say Chief, the welcome here in LA's been…interesting" I gave him a sideways look.

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not Lieutenant, so I'll let that one alone for now" I peered into the room; seeing a hint of movement I tensed but on second look it was the movement of ropes falling past the balcony, no doubt Collins' people checking the rooms.

Turning back to my team I looked to Langstrom, Caine and Hoyt.

"Gentlemen, I would ask you to wait for my crime scene imagery tech, Buzz Watson to arrive. Once he does could I ask you to work with him to make sure everything that needs to be captured about the scene is recorded, plus given Mister Hurt's doing crime scene shots downstairs please tell Buzz that he's shooting whatever Doctor Isles here needs for autopsy purposes as well" they both nodded and I turned back to Maura who was standing there.

"Thank you for your courtesy Chief, would you be requiring autopsy results tonight?" I smiled and shook my head, happy to say no.

"No thank you Doctor, given there doesn't seem too much question about what killed our victims, I think they can wait until morning, I surely can" I got a nice smile in return.

"Then we will finish up here, get the site photographed and allow the victims to be removed" I nodded.

"Sounds good" I checked my watch and winced, time was rushing and I knew Natalie would be looking for someone to talk to the media and given I just absolutely knew this was going to end up my case I'd better head back down, though I'd rather face a firing squad.

"I have to get back and talk to Chief Kelso" I looked round the people standing or kneeling here. "I'll talk to you later"

I got a series of nods and farewells as I made my way back out, alone this time, my entourage now busy with real work, unlike me who was wasting time with the media, I surely wasn't looking forward to what awaited me with them. Sure enough I was right as Kelso looked up and nodded as I entered the command post.

"Ah Chief, there you are" I nodded to Kelso.

"I was with Doctor Isles and her team, based on the info they've determined it looks like the bomb was some kind of shaped charge, designed to send the majority of the blast through the door and into the person on the other side" Kelso nodded once.

"I can confirm that, Collins' people found a third bomb" he said as my eyes narrowed; _another?_

"That was very quick" Kelso shrugged at my comment then replied.

"It was on the 14th floor, so one of the first they checked" He consulted a tablet then passed it across, it showed an image of a device attached to the back of the door with what looked like duct tape of all things, I suppose it made sense, the stuff could hold almost anything together. It looked ominous though plastered across the door like some spider waiting to strike. "Room 1404 was just waiting to blow, the bomb squad guys are examining it now" I nodded and looked up.

"Who…"

"Was it checked out to?" he interrupted, giving me a grim smile. "A Lieutenant Taylor, apparently a NYPD officer" I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for second, when I opened it Kelso was looking at me. He nodded once. "I haven't spoken to Pope yet but I'll bet that it's going to be a Major Crimes case, what with three cops targeted" I nodded slowly.

"It surely will be, he's here with me as well, I think I'm going to need to get them in for a chat" I massaged my eyes for a moment then looked up to Kelso's eyes. "The rest of the hotel's on lockdown, right?" He nodded.

"Until Collins gives the all clear" I nodded.

"Good, I suppose I need to talk to Langstrom, Caine and Taylor, someone wanted them all dead badly enough to come after them all the way out here" He nodded then looked past me.

"Uh oh" I looked over my shoulder to see Natalie moving through the crowd and climbing the steps into the trailer, looking back to see Kelso looking at me. "You gonna take the media Brenda?" I shrugged.

"Might as well, like you said it's going to be my case and sure as hell Pope's not going to volunteer" Kelso shook his head.

"Better you than me, besides with an election coming up at the end of the year you can bet Pope will continue to duck anything that isn't a good news announcement"" I nodded resignedly.

"Looks like it, lucky us" He smiled.

"You can have it with my blessing Brenda" He shrugged. "Besides you look better on camera" I grinned up at him.

"Why Colin, if I didn't know better I'd say that sounded suspiciously like a compliment, I might start to thinking you're trying to turn a girl's head" He gave me a quick grin.

"And face the wrath of a pissed off Sharon Raydor, no way in hell" He turned slightly and smiled at Nat as she arrived at the table. "Hello Natalie" She nodded with an all-business smile.

"Colin, Brenda" I looked at her.

"How bad is it?" She shrugged eloquently before replying.

"On a scale of one to ten with one being nothing and ten being the end of the world, about a seven point five" I grimaced as Kelso spoke for Natalie's benefit.

"Given the bombs targeted law enforcement personnel, it's almost certainly a Major Crimes case" Nat nodded and turned to me.

"Then I'd better get you prepped and briefed if we're going to put you up in front of the media in…" She checked her watch. "Seven minutes" I sighed, resigned to my fate.

"Chief, if you'll excuse me?" He nodded.

"Good luck Chief"

Half an hour later, the media ordeal thankfully behind me, I was sitting in what in more normal times would be the hotel's ground floor restaurant. The bomb squad had cleared the ground floor and with no new bombs found it was starting to return to normal, though each room on every floor was being individually checked by the bomb squad to confirm they were safe so it was probably going to be another couple of hours before guests were let back in.

Fortunately the kitchen was back up and running and coffee was flowing, something I'd desperately needed as I reviewed the notes I'd made based on the info from my team. The victim's bodies were in the morgue where autopsies would start first thing in the morning, Maura and her impromptu team had arrived and were sitting over in one corner with coffees, deep in discussion. The rest of the Major Crimes team were flitting in and out as they reported back and I tasked them with new jobs, while most of my other visitors, the ones not with Maura, had gathered around a couple of tables drinking coffee. I could see my three would-be bombing victims sitting together talking earnestly. I needed to talk to them soon but I'd been consumed by the case, liaising with the pushiest of the Fed agencies, the one's Ana and Booth couldn't keep off my back, plus dealing with the media.

As expected Pope had turned the case over to me, though Colin was handling the running of the scene tonight, something he didn't have to do but which I was very grateful for. I made a mental note that we should do something nice for him; maybe have him over to Sharon's place for one of her special dinners, when I was interrupted.

"Pardon me Chief Johnson?" I looked up to see Taylor, Langstrom and Caine standing there, it was Taylor who'd spoken. "Can we have a moment?" I looked up and shrugged, then tossed my pen on the table and sat back.

"If you can help me solve this case, then come on and take a seat" They shared a look around then moved to take seats around the table. It was Langstrom who spoke first.

"We just might" I blinked at him then the others, tipping my head to one side as I took them in before replying.

"I think you'd better explain that statement"

They did.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

The phone rang, pulling him out of his thoughts; putting his glass down he turned and picked up the burner phone he'd used for this op, once complete he'd strip the battery out and smash the phone to pieces before disposing of it in the ocean during his daily surf.

"Yes?" The voice at the other end was calm, but Simmonds had always been that way, no matter how bad the situation.

"We missed" His face tightened, that wasn't what he'd wanted to hear.

"What happened?"

"Hotel goof, Caine wasn't in the room he was supposed to be, some other random guy was and he set off the device" At Simmonds' explanation he looked up at the ceiling for a moment as he frowned.

"That's…unfortunate" Simmonds' voice was unrepentant, not that he expected anything else.

"Yeah, we missed the others too, after the first blast the cops emptied the hotel, they set off another when they did, apparently there were additional casualties. Sorry man" He nodded, the casualties didn't bother him; they were the currency of doing business. It was not taking the targets out of play that did.

"You're sure we missed them?"

"Yeah, I'm down here mixed in with the rubberneckers, I spotted all three when they arrived, a while after the explosions" Wynter nodded to himself, Simmonds didn't take too many chances, but he was fearless, so being down there to watch the aftermath was right up his alley.

"I suppose we've had ops go sour, this is just another one" At his comment Simmonds was philosophical.

"Not as bad as Fallujah though" Wynter grimaced, somehow they'd survived that meat-grinder, nothing compared to that…

"Nothing's as bad as Fallujah" They were silent for a second at that; it was one of those shared experiences that bound them all together.

"Roger that. At least we didn't have any of our own people in play" At Simmonds' words he nodded, they'd decided for deniable assets for this op in the set up. Simmonds had set up the bombs but everyone else involved was expendable.

"There is that, I want you to make sure all the loose ends are tidied up, once the LAPD works out we were trying to kill cops they'll throw every resource they have at trying to find out who was responsible"

"Understood, SOP it is" Simmonds might as well have been talking about the weather rather than a string of killings in front of him but he had every confidence in the man, he'd trusted him with his life plenty of times before. He put that behind him and focused on the here and now.

"We might have been a little ambitious here" Simmonds was calm; he'd obviously thought it through.

"I thought it was worth a shot" Simmonds paused then continued. "Speaking of which, I'm still happy to try the sniper play in their home cities" He thought about it for a moment then nodded as he replied.

"Let's look at that again once you've cleaned up the loose ends here"

"Gotcha, I'll see to it"

"Call me when you have"

With that the call ended, leaving Danny Wynter to turn and look out through the window to his study, out over the Pacific Ocean. For a moment he was lost in thought, then grimaced and tossed down the last of his bourbon.


	53. Chapter 53

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **52 The Team Assembles**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I glanced around the room, feeling slightly boxed in, it wasn't actually intentional, it was just that my office was filled with a number of very polite, but very insistent people, rather a lot of them actually. I'd walked into my office first thing this morning, coffee in hand, to turn around and find a procession of people following me in; though what they wanted wasn't really all that much of a surprise, not really.

"We have approval from our departments to extend our stay here to help out, with your permission that is" It was Stella Bonasera from New Orleans, standing next to Mac Taylor from New York who nodded and chipped in to support his former colleague..

"Same here, the NYPD isn't happy someone tried to kill one of their people and they've approved an extension of our time out here" Kate Beckett, who together with Jo Danville made up the quad of current and former New York people present glanced at them then back to me and nodded.

"We'd really like to help Chief; god knows when or where they'll try again"

"Chief Johnson…" It was Ray Langston, his deep voice seeming to fill the room. "I too would like to be a part of your investigation, as would all of us. Therefore we have come to you to request your approval to be a part of your team for the duration of this case" I glanced around, seeing the others like Murphy and Hunt and Willows and Hoyt nodding, before I sat back and chose another.

"Detective Caine, you're being remarkably restrained, for you that is. I take it both you and Detective Duquesne are asking for the same thing?" He nodded; one hand on his hip as he spoke.

"That was supposed to be my hotel room that got blown to hell, if it hadn't been for dumb luck I'd have been in it when it went off. Damn right I want a part of it" Duquesne laid a hand on his arm, getting his attention and shaking her head slightly before looking my way and speaking.

"Chief Johnson, we would like to join your investigation, to be a part of your team for as long as it takes to solve it. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that solving this crime is all that matters, for as long as that takes we would be happy to work under your leadership"

"Yeah, doesn't matter if we're consultants, temporary transfers, on secondment or whatever administrative arrangement it takes, we'd like to help out" It was Seely Booth, standing next to Brennan as I nodded at his words. Looking from him to the others I took in the set of their shoulders and expressions ranging from grim to hopeful and everything in between.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the possibility certainly exists to include you in the investigation. Chief Pope did state to me last night when he formally assigned this case to Major Crimes that I could call on any and all resources to solve this case, so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to include you as members of a joint, inter-agency task force that I've just this very second created to work on this case" I saw smiles break out across the room as the mood palpably lifted before I held up my hand and cautioned them. "That will cover the sworn officers, there are procedures that cover such things, in case you have to make an arrest or discharge your firearm or what not" There were nods everywhere as I pressed on. "The same however does not apply to the forensics professionals here. Doctor Isles is the Chief Medical Examiner for the County of Los Angeles, and while the good doctor does not normally stand on ceremony, her position is appointed by the Mayor, not the Chief of the LAPD"

"So?" It was Caine. I shrugged as I replied.

"That means I can neither appoint people to the Medical Examiner's office nor tell Doctor Isles to include the forensic specialists here in her team, that decision is hers and hers alone"

"So we should ask her?" It was Kate Murphy from Philadelphia. I looked at her and nodded.

"That is precisely what I am saying" I looked round the room. "While I would be more than pleased to have the detectives here working with Major Crimes, if the forensics specialists wish to work on this case, you'll have to convince Doctor Isles of the benefits to being allowed to do so" There were a lot of glances between the people in my room before Langstrom spoke.

"Then we should speak with Doctor Isles" Megan Hunt nodded as she spoke.

"Immediately"

I took in the sudden outbreak of determined expressions and set jaws and wondered if Maura would forgive me for what I'd just unleashed on her.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Medical Examiner's Office**

Maura's viewpoint

My morgue was crowded; I'd never see it so full in all the time I'd been here in Los Angeles.

In addition to my own team who were, rather wisely I thought, keeping well out of the way, I was unwittingly hosting representatives of the crime labs from New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Las Vegas and New Orleans together with Doctor Brennon and Agent Booth plus Jordan Cavenagh and Detective Hoyt. They were all chatting amongst themselves when I walked in after my impromptu chat with Natalie.

I stood there for a moment, letting my surprise dissipate as I took in the crowded room, fortunately no one had noticed me standing there, giving me time to regain my composure. After a few seconds however I decided that enough was enough and that it was time to regain control of what was, after all, my department.

"Excuse me" Apparently, no one heard me. "Excuse me!"

Again I was apparently not heard and there was no way I was going to shout to be heard in my own morgue. Gritting my teeth I stepped forward, walking through the middle of the press of people, seeking out the area on the far side of the autopsy tables, an area fortunately relatively clear of people. I noticed that as I passed the noise of conversation died away, until by the time I reached the other side of the centre autopsy table the room was quiet. I placed my Prada bag down on the bench top and turned to face my visitors, looking around the room with one eyebrow raised, noting the expressions on the faces of my 'guests', ranging from amused to embarrassed to chagrined to determined.

"To what do I owe the honour of your unexpected presence here this morning?" There was a moment of silence as people looked around, before several individuals spoke at once.

"Maura, we'd like to…"

"Doctor Isles, I think that we can…"

"Given that we're involved we'd like…"

"We want in…"

The babble was rapidly becoming unintelligible so I held up my hand.

"One person at a time, if you would be so kind" I pointed at Horatio Caine from Miami, standing there with Calleigh Duquesne close by his side. "Lieutenant Caine, perhaps you could go first" He nodded as he glanced around before straightening up and speaking.

"Doctor Isles, we'd like to be a part of the investigation. Given we were being targeted, we feel that we should have some role in getting to the bottom of it" I nodded slowly, looking around at the assembled throng before selecting another plaintiff.

"Doctor Langstrom, you have something to add?" He nodded, his voice deep and precise.

"I do. Doctor Isles, Catherine and I would like to offer our assistance. I was a target too and quite frankly, I would like to know why and by whom" I almost nodded; it made sense, but kept my thoughts to myself as I looked to another visitor.

"Lieutenant Taylor. I take it you feel the same?" He nodded in agreement.

"I do, that bomb would have killed me when I opened the door and I'd like to know who wants me dead bad enough to blow up a hotel room to do it" He shrugged. "I'd kinda find it hard to walk away without knowing" I looked around the room, before selecting another supplicant, well two of them to be precise.

"Doctor's Hunt and Murphy, given your combined presence here I presume you both wish to be involved as well?" The blonde and redhead exchanged a quick glance before they both nodded, Megan just beating Kate with a typically blunt follow up.

"Damn right we do" Kate was a little more diplomatic.

"We feel we have something to add to your investigation" I looked around the room, taking in everyone there even as I found myself idly wondering what the collective noun for a group of medical examiners was, a 'body', an 'autopsy'; a 'dissection' perhaps? Discarding that irrelivancy I crossed my arms, leaned back slightly against the bench behind me and spoke.

"I take it you all feel the same way and thus you are all here to petition me to be included in the ongoing investigation?" There were nods all round as Catherine Willows spoke up.

"Two people died, another's critical, it could have been some of us in their place, I sure want to find out who the hell was responsible for coming after our own" I nodded as another jumped in.

"Doctor Isles" It was Stella Bonasera from New Orleans. "We're here now, if we don't find whoever's doing this here and now, they may try again when we head back home" Temperance Brennan stood up from where she was leaning against some cupboards next to Agent Booth.

"I agree, we are assembled here, there is valuable work to be done, we should pool our resources and pursue our investigation while the evidence is fresh" I looked around. Everyone was nodding.

"More eyes on the case can't hurt..." It was Horatio Caine. "...and we're here" Professor Langstrom looked at him and nodded before turning back to address me.

"Indeed we are, there's a lot of expertise here in this room Doctor Isles, perhaps you can make use of it" I frowned, I felt I was being boxed in, even their arguments all made good sense. Agent Booth levered himself up to stand next to Doctor Brennan.

"Doc, you have some of the best forensics people in the country here, all that expertise, all available right now to work on this case" He smiled, a little crookedly. "Waste not, want not" I sighed audibly then addressed the room.

"I will not lie, your offer to help is appreciated, however the decision is not mine to make. Deputy Chief Johnson is running this case, you would have to ask her" I noticed smiles break out as I tilted my head to regard them. "Yes?" Lieutenant Caine smiled.

"We already did, she said to ask you" As I frowned Detective Willows gave me a lopsided smile.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth Doc" I sighed, I felt as if I'd been somewhat forced to this point but before I could reply Jordan Cavenagh spoke, a little quietly but loud enough to be heard in the quiet room from where she was standing slightly off to one side.

"Doctor Isles, this is the finest set of forensics professionals I've ever heard of in the one room, let alone on a single case" She glanced around the room at the people watching her, blushing a little at being the centre of everyone's attention and continued, a little quieter. "I'd never dreamed I'd get to meet all these people, let alone have the chance to work with them, to have the opportunity to learn from all these experts, many of who are legends in the profession, on a case, especially something as big and important as this one" She looked around and coloured a little more at the nodding and attention before pushing on. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from the best and I'd really like to have that chance" I nodded slowly, unsure of what to say to that when Lieutenant Taylor took a half step forward.

"Maura, you have the forensics dream team in the room, we're here and we want to help. And what we can't do here, well our teams back home are available to do any work you want" I wavered, their arguments made perfect sense. As I considered their case Kate Murphy nodded and spoke.

"Our labs and teams are at your disposal" I nodded slowly, coming to a decision then looked around the room.

"If I agree to this…" I held up my finger as smiles started to break out around the room. "… and I have not yet agreed; you will be part of my team, working together under my direction, reporting to me. This will be a team effort, we would all be part of the same team, not a team from Miami or New York or wherever, one team, each member working where there skills are most required, irrespective of rank, is that clearly understood by all?" Everyone looked round the room and started nodding before Lieutenant Taylor shrugged.

"No arguments from us" Jo Danville, standing next to him, smiled.

"Tell us what to do, for as long as it takes, you're the boss" There was a general agreement, with everyone nodding and smiling as I stood there, thinking about it, not that it was hard, the expertise on offer here in this room, plus their assembled teams across the country, offered a wonderful capability, one I would be grossly negligent to refuse. I have been called a great many things in my life, but negligent was not one of them. Finally I looked round the assembled group and smiled.

"Then I am very pleased to welcome you all to the LAPD Medical Examiners Office" Smiles appeared on every face as I pressed on. "We will divide up the work as soon as possible, however in the interim, I believe we need to deal with the most important thing first" I saw interested looks all round the room. "If we are to do productive work, I believe we need a coffee" At the smiles and surprised looks I smiled in return and continued. "I have worked with detectives for many years and while there is no scientific basis for my theory, I have come to the belief that there is a direct relationship between their consumption of caffeine and their success rate" there were smiles all round before Stella Bonasera laughed and spoke.

"In that case, coffee's all round"

I found myself smiling with the rest, this was going to be tricky, managing a lot of egos and personalities that were used to being in charge but now forced to work together as equals was going to be a significant challenge, but with the expertise contained within this room, our chances of solving the case had just improved immeasurably.

 **Los Angeles The Sheraton Hotel**

Killing people, contrary to popular opinion, isn't all that hard. The human body, for all that it's a marvel of design and adaptability, is fragile enough that if you hit it, just right, in just the right place, things break, important things, leaving the owner dying in its wake. The real trick is killing silently. Contrary to Hollywood's depiction, if you stick a knife or an arrow or sword in someone, they tend to scream, much the same was true with someone shot, they didn't clutch their wounds and drop to the ground silently, dead, leaving the hero to move on to his next target. Being shot pretty much anywhere hurts like hell and under that sort of pain and stress, humans tend to vocalise that trauma, very loudly.

Fortunately, Simmonds was a past master of the art of killing quickly and silently. He'd first learned from the US Army then honed that skill with innumerable killings since. That experience meant killing his next victim was easy as pie. He'd rung the man, who was almost beside himself with panic when he'd turned up to work and learned not only that there had been a bombing in the hotel overnight in which people had died but in which rooms, and told him to meet him down near the hotel's loading docks. He'd calmed the cleaner's fears by telling him it was all a misunderstanding and he'd make it right. He would, just not in the way the man expected.

Less than three minutes later he saw his target appear at the other end of the corridor and beckoned him forward even as he stepped back into a short side corridor that was well away from any cameras. Fifteen seconds later the shorter man walked round the corner, only to be swung round hard into the wall of the corridor, hard enough to leave him stunned for a second. Before he could recover a large hand clamped down hard over his mouth and an unbearable pain shot through his chest as he felt himself slammed back into the wall again. He frantically struggled and tried to speak, but the hand over his mouth was clamped tight, the man in front of him was so much bigger and stronger, while his victim grew steadily weaker, even as he twisted the knife side to side, completing the ruin of the cleaner's heart.

The last thing the man saw was the excited look of pleasure in his killer's eyes, before darkness fell.

Twenty seconds later, all of his victim's movements having ceased, Simmonds withdrew his knife and carefully wiped it clean on his victim's clothes before laying it aside. Holding his victim upright he quickly dragged the body a few steps to a laundry cart he'd stashed there and unceremoniously tipped it inside. Moving quickly he doffed the white coat he was wearing, together with any tell-tale blood stains, tossing it and the latex gloves he'd been wearing, now covered in blood, into the cart and then covered it all over with a few loose sheets.

That done he retrieved the jacket of the laundry company whose vehicle he had 'arranged' to be stolen and put it on, collected his knife and slid it into the scabbard inside his trousers then wheeled the cart down to the loading dock, carefully loading it inside his truck before heading off with cheerful wave to the security guard.

Simmonds smiled to himself, another loose end tied up and no one the wiser.


	54. Chapter 54

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **54 Some Assembly Required**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Medical Examiner's Office**

Maura's viewpoint

Several hours after my sudden influx of forensics specialists and I was walking through the morgue's workspaces, overseeing their activities.

Doctor's Brennan, Danville and Cavanagh were conducting the autopsy on the first victim, an Anthony Kelly. Preliminary investigations by Major Crimes had determined that he was a farm machinery salesman from Idaho who was in town for a sales conference and had been assigned to Lieutenant Caine's room; that unfortunate and as yet unexplained mix-up regrettably costing him his life. As I watched Doctor Brennan leaned back and indicated something within the 'Y' incision to Jordan Cavanagh who nodded eagerly. It was obvious Jordan had been more than serious about looking to learn from the plethora of experts working on this case, as Jo Danville looked up and saw me.

Choosing not to interrupt Doctor Brennan's teaching moment I quietly nodded to Jo and kept walking on into the second autopsy room to find our Philadelphia contingent, Doctors Hunt and Murphy, conducting the autopsy on Herve Villegra, the unfortunate staff member who had opened the door to Doctor Langstrom's room. Seeing them not engaged inside the cadaver I walked over.

"Good morning doctors" They both looked up and nodded as I moved closer. Megan spoke first.

"The initial determination of blunt trauma as the cause of death was correct Maura" Kate looked from her colleague to me.

"I agree; we haven't found anything beyond the obvious serious but non-immediately lethal shrapnel wounds" She shrugged before continuing. "The deceased had signs of latent cardiac issues, mostly a build-up of cholesterol in their arteries, but it was not yet at a level that would be life-threatening" I nodded, the victim was somewhat overweight after all so it was unlikely that anything else was in play but still…

"Did the toxicology screen show any medication, alcohol or other irregularities?" Kate shook her head.

"No, no alcohol, no medication either so we can assume his cholesterol hadn't been detected yet" Megan jumped back in.

"We did find the remains of his last dinner, he had what looks like two hamburger and fries washed down with cola so we know where the cholesterol likely came from" I nodded.

"Heart disease, often exacerbated by obesity, is a primary cause of death amongst adult Americans" I noted.

"Yeah, and so easily preventable" At Megan's words I nodded, remembering that she had previously been a surgeon and doctor before taking up her new career as a Medical Examiner.

"Regrettably yes" I looked from Megan to Kate and back. "Once you are complete, could I ask you to write up your findings then join me as we discuss the case?" I got nods and smiles in response and I smiled before leaving them to continue and going in search of the others, finding them in the chemical lab. Ray Langstrom, Catherine Willows and Mac Taylor were standing around a bench, looking at a printout in front of them.

"Good morning" I got greetings from them as I approached, as Catherine held up the printout for my attention.

"Analysis of the chemical residue in the hotel rooms and on the victims determined that the explosive was a high-grade commercially-manufactured product, one used by the US military in fact, though it does have some civilian applications" I nodded as I responded.

"Have we heard from the bomb squad on the success or otherwise of their attempts to disarm the remaining device?" I glanced amongst them. "It would be extremely helpful to have physical examples as well as trace evidence" I got head shakes before Lieutenant Taylor spoke.

"Last I heard talking to Major Crimes the EOD guys were still looking for a way to disarm it" He grimaced. "Apparently it's got anti-tamper gear on it" I nodded once at him.

"Interesting, let us hope they are successful then" Looking at Catherine Willows I queried her previous comment. "You stated that it was a military compound, could you be more specific?" She laid the printout down on the bench and pointed to it as the others moved back to make room.

"The analysis says it's a hexahydro-1,3,5-triazine derivative" She glanced my way. "That's normally manufactured for the military and a few selected civilian demolition applications as CycloTrimethyleneTriNitramine" Taylor nodded and backed her up.

"It's better known as RDX. It's a pretty common military high explosive, they use it because it's not only stable, when exploded in air it's about 1.5 times the explosive power of TNT per unit weight" I glanced at him.

"That was very precise Lieutenant, have you had prior exposure to RDX?" He nodded and gave me a slight smile.

"You could say that, I did some time in the Army so I got to know all about its applications there" I nodded again.

"Very helpful" I thought for a moment. "Could I then ask you to follow up on where this particular batch might have originated from?" He looked off into space for a few seconds then replied.

"There should be some chemical traces the manufacturer includes to trace the batches" He looked my way and nodded. "I know we have those details back in New York so I'll get onto the lab there to chase it up"

"Please, that would be quite helpful" I said then looked at our two Las Vegas visitors. "I have asked Doctors Murphy and Hunt to write up their conclusions on the Villegra autopsy and will request the same from Doctors Brennan and Cavanagh on their subject, Mister Kelly" I consulted my watch. "I expect they will both be complete within the hour so I would suggest we reconvene at 11.30 to discuss their findings" I got nods from them both. "In the meantime, could I ask you to review the imagery of each the victims and the crime scenes for any issues that may have been overlooked?"

I did not think there would be anything, but I had an excess of qualified medical examiners and not really enough for all of this early in the investigation. Fortunately I got a pair of nods as Lieutenant Taylor spoke up.

"I'll give the lab back home a call now and get them moving" I smiled.

"Thank you Lieutenant, that would be greatly appreciated"

With the case's forensics in good hands I strolled upstairs to touch base with Brenda, to see how that aspect of the case was progressing. Exiting the lift and walking down the corridor was altogether normal, what greeted me however was not. The room was full of people all industriously working away.

Every desk had someone working at it, as I watched I saw Detective Kahn moving from one desk to another, helping our new arrivals get logged onto the system and showing them where they could find information. Over by the whiteboard I saw Kate Beckett standing with Detective Duquesne and Lieutenant Caine, they watched and occasionally made comments as Kate made notes on the board in a neat script, adding to a rapidly growing collection.

My eyes sought out Jane, seeing her standing at her desk with a series of papers laid across it, engrossed in a discussion with Agent Booth and Mikki Mendoza, all three looking at a sheet Mikki was tapping. I smiled to myself for a moment at seeing Jane concentrating so hard to the exclusion of all around her. Shaking my head I made my way through the room, getting nods and welcomes from many of the detectives before I arrived at the door to Brenda's office. Tapping on the door jamb she looked up and gave me a slightly harried smile.

"Good morning Doctor Isles" Returning the smile I walked in.

"Good morning Chief, I came up to pass on the preliminary results from the team" I got a twisted smile.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I had my office full of people this morning, all wanting in on the case" She shrugged. I told the officers could be part of my team but the forensics people had to ask you" She gave me a small shrug. "They then left and headed your way, looking very determined, so sorry 'bout that" I waved her apology away.

"That is unnecessary, the additional resources that have augmented the Medical Examiner's office have allowed for a much faster processing of the victims" I got a nod and a question in return.

"Anything out of the ordinary?" I shook my head.

"While the autopsies are still underway, the preliminary conclusions support the hypothesis that both victims died as a result of the trauma received as a direct result of the explosion" I sat back in the chair. "You should have the full results before 1 PM today" Brenda nodded.

"Quick work, please thank your new and improved team for me" She also sat back and regarded me for a moment before continuing. "I know its early days but how is your impromptu team gelling?" I pursed my lips before replying.

"It is of course too early to say with any certainty, but I did make it clear that participation in this investigation was dependent on their working together as a single team, without seniority or egos" Brenda nodded.

"Very wise, we have rank structures and such for that but it's a bit different for your people, if you need me to speak to anyone, let me know" I assured her that I would if it became necessary and we chatted for a few minutes before I left her, knowing that her day was going to be particularly hectic.

Giving my team a little space to complete their tasks without feeling pressured I visited Natalie and we chatted for a while on the investigation before taking my leave and heading downstairs. I returned in time to convene a meeting of my investigation team, as expected both victim's autopsies had discovered nothing that was not consistent with the nature of their passing, something I would highlight in my report to Brenda. That done, and following reports from Catherine Willows and Ray Langstrom that nothing unusual had appeared in the visual records, I looked to Lieutenant Taylor who related what had so far been determined from the explosives traces.

"The explosive we're looking at was manufactured by Mil-Spec Industries Corp, they're located in Glen Cove New York, out on the western end of Long Island" He glanced around the Forensics team meeting room table we were sitting at, most cradling coffees, before continuing. "They manufacture for both military and civil uses, but this batch is military standard, it has a slightly higher level of Hexamine, which is typical of military-grade explosive" He passed across a printout which I scanned, the conclusions were sound, looking up I smiled.

"Please pass on my gratitude for some very quick work Lieutenant" I flicked across the page and looked up again, summarising for the group. "Their conclusion is that the presence of wax in the residue suggests this is Composition A3, which is military use only" I raised an eyebrow. "The availability of military grade explosive in this case is a matter of some concern"

"That's one way to describe it" Megan commented, her voice dry. I looked to Lieutenant Taylor.

"What is the next step Lieutenant, given your experience with this product?" The Lieutenant looked into space for a few second before coming back to me and replying.

"If we contact the company we should be able to determine the precise batch, when it was made and who it was for" I nodded gratefully as I handed back the report.

"If you would be so kind as to organise that Lieutenant Taylor, I would be grateful" He gathered up the paperwork and gave me a quick nod.

"I'll get on it as soon as we finish up here"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I have to say having so many extra, experienced officers added to my team was both a boon and a challenge. A boon in that once given something to do they set to it quickly and efficiently, bringing their long years of expertise to bear, the challenge was to find enough to keep everyone gainfully occupied as leads were examined and exhausted. To that end I had taken to regularly circling the Murder Room, keeping myself appraised of where everyone was at their respective tasks and reassigning people as new leads became available.

The hotel's security camera footage had proven no real help. Oh, they'd gotten footage of our perpetrator all right, a tall, well-built black man in slacks, a windcheater and carrying a large sports bag; but he'd worn a long billed Yankee's cap and had consciously manoeuvred to keep his face hidden from the camera's, he'd obviously known where they were. We were certain it was him though; he'd visited all three of our would-be victim's rooms, the only person to do so, as we'd already ascertained that different hotel cleaning staff worked different floors, none of them covered all three of the floors in question.

We'd recovered no fingerprints from Lieutenant Taylor's door, the only one still intact; it appeared our suspect was either wearing gloves, though they weren't visible in the camera footage, or had surreptitiously wiped the door handle down when he pulled it shut. The upshot was we'd found no prints anywhere that didn't belong to either the hotel's cleaning person or Taylor. The same was true in both Langstrom's room and the one belonging to our deceased salesman. With that a dead end we'd turned our attention elsewhere, something I was following up on now.

"Detectives, where are we on the booking mix-up and the access keys to each of the three rooms?" Jane turned round to face me, backed by Olivia and Kate Beckett.

"The room allocated to Caine was supposed to go to him, it's just the previous tenant spilled coffee on the mattress at breakfast before check out that morning and it soaked through" I nodded as she continued. "Caine arrived early and they were still replacing the mattress in that room, so they switched his booking with that of Kelly's, given he wasn't due in until later that afternoon, as it turned out Kelly didn't actually check in until after seven that night" I nodded then pressed her.

"I know it's unlikely but we've found nothing on Kelly, nothing to suggest he, as dubious as it might seem, may have been one of the targets?" I got a shake of her head.

"His life, according to Boise police, was almost textbook normal" Jane consulted her notes, reading off it. "The usual parking and speeding tickets, more than the average given he was a salesperson, on the road every day but I suppose that's part of the job" I nodded as she continued. "A couple of old drunk and disorderly citations from back when he was at college, he has an ex-wife; they divorced about six years ago and he has two school age daughters he shares custody with" She looked up, cutting me off. "The divorce seems as amicable as you could hope for, there are no police records of anything related to that" I nodded and she pressed on. "He was in town for his companies national sales conference, it's been planned for over six months" I nodded, mentally moving that lead into the 'unlikely' box and refocussing elsewhere.

"Who knew about the switch and when did they know it took place?" Olivia took that.

"Anyone who looked at the booking system from the moment of the switch over, practically the entire hotel staff has access to that database" I pulled a face at that piece of unwelcome news as she continued on. "Given that we know that the spare key cards to the three rooms were obtained prior to that time, otherwise they would have got the right vic…" She trailed off as I nodded.

"Yes, do we know how the access cards were obtained?" Beckett handled that.

"According to the hotel's staff the individual room access cards are printed at two locations; though the primary is at the reception desk, there's a back-up machine in an area nearby in case anything happens with the main machine" She too checked her notes. "According to the hotel's computer systems all three key cards were created the day before Caine and the others arrived, printed off at the back-up access card machine" She shrugged. "We're looking into how many people have access to it, but it's in an unlocked room behind the reception area" Before I could speak she continued. "That said we have a time for when they were created and I have asked Khan to sweep the closest cameras to see who was in the vicinity" I smiled, pleased at her initiative.

"Excellent, how soon should he have that footage?" Kate checked her watch then looked up.

"Pretty soon, he's back at the Sheraton now and has the hotel's head of security with him, so they should be able to identify anyone in the area around that time pretty quickly" I nodded.

"Once we get that information we need to talk to anyone identified as soon as possible please detectives" All three nodded as Jane responded.

"On it Chief" I thought about it for a few seconds then spoke up.

"So if I have this correct, someone knew that our three potential victims were coming and which rooms were assigned to them and printed off access cards to each room, but did so early enough that they were not aware of the room change?" I got three nods at my quick summary. "Why not a single card for all three rooms as the staff use, I wonder?" Kate answered that.

"Yeah, I wondered about that too, but apparently those cards are issued in HR to staff directly and only a couple of people can do it" She shook her head. "I checked and none of those employee cards were issued during the 72 hours prior to Caine's check in" I smiled, pleased to be working with people who weren't afraid to show initiative, something that I had worked hard to encourage in my team but something not always on display elsewhere, and spoke.

"Excellent work detectives, please keep at it and let me know if anything turns up about that other card machine" With that I smiled and moved on to my next group of investigators. Lieutenants Caine and Taylor were looking into the bombs that had been used.

"Gentlemen, has there been any progress on the bombs?" Taylor looked up.

"The bomb squad's still trying to defuse the one they recovered" He pulled a face. "I passed on that it had probably been armed via a cell call and they're looking into that" I nodded; the surveillance footage had suggested that was how they had been armed. "We're waiting on a call back from the company that makes the explosive to see which batch it came from and who it was sold to" Caine nodded.

"It could have possibly come from any number of sources given it's sold to both the military and civilian users, mostly construction and mining companies but apparently it's not the right version for civilian use, so almost certainly a military source" He shrugged. "We should know soon enough"

"We've ascertained that the explosive is a batch of RDX, in particular Composition 3 which is a military-specific explosive. We're attempting to get a lock on where it was delivered too" Taylor stated. I thought about that for a second.

"They can trace it to a specific batch?" I asked, getting nods from both.

"Yeah, minute trace elements that they include during production allow them to determine individual batches and who they were supplied to. It's a quality control tool" I nodded as Taylor continued. "We've sent them our analysis and should hear back soon, maybe today, tomorrow at the latest" I smiled.

"Excellent work gentlemen" I got nods from them both. "Please let me know when you find anything further" With that I moved on to the next group.

Lieutenant Bonasera was working with Detectives Mendoza, Hoyt and Duquesne as they went through witness statements, however nothing of any consequence had turned up so far, that said I gave them some encouragement at what could be a thankless grind before heading back to my desk. I didn't get far though.

Lieutenant's Flynn and Provenza were conducting a database search, cross-referencing hotel employees, looking for any with a criminal record, time-consuming but necessary.

"This would go a lot faster if we had Khan here Chief" Provenza noted. I nodded, not unsympathetically, as I answered.

"I understand and agree Lieutenant, he is currently at the hotel obtaining surveillance footage but I will assign him to assist you as soon as he returns"

"Thanks Chief" he said and Andy Flynn smiled, while both were excellent detectives, neither was anywhere near as capable of interrogating computer databases as quickly and thoroughly as Khan, he really had a gift for it. Leaving them I checked in on Buzz, he was compiling the footage he and Colin Hurt had taken into coherent files for case review and, hopefully, use at the trial of the people responsible, before heading back to my office.

"Chief!" It was Olivia Benson; she ended her phone call and turned to face me as I made my way over.

"Yes Sergeant Benson?" I got a nod as she answered.

"Khan's identified someone of interest that he thinks used the key card machine" I nodded and beckoned for her to continue. "It's a senior cleaner, Chen Hui-Lee, it's not normally his job to use the machine, though he has used it from time to time, but he was spotted on the surveillance tape in the area during the time in question and unlike everyone else in the vicinity, he had no reason to be there" I smiled, finally…

"Quick work Sergeant, very quick in fact. Let us get Mister Hui-Lee in and have a chat to him then" Surprisingly Liv shook her head.

"He apparently showed up for work first thing today then completely vanished, no one's seen him since around nine this morning" I frowned…

"And no one thought this was at all suspicious?" Olivia shook her head.

"Apparently not" I rolled my eyes for a moment…lordy lordy…

"I sincerely hope that the hotel has a home address for him?" She nodded and brandished her notepad.

"Yeah, it just came through" I nodded once.

"Take Detectives Rizzoli and Beckett with you, meet up with a couple of uniformed officers there and bring Mister Hui-Lee in if he is in fact there, get a warrant and search it if he is not, though I do hope he is, I feel we need to have a chat about his recent activities" I got a nod and an acknowledgement and she was gone, collecting Jane and Kate on the way as I turned back to my office and the rapidly accumulating number of voicemail and email messages, all marked urgent and all needing a response.

An hour later and we had nothing, our suspect's apartment was empty, Alex had obtained a rapid warrant to grant access and the team were now searching his premises, I'd despatched Buzz to join them to record everything, but it was not looking good. I'd recalled Khanj to help out here while Mendoza and Bonasera had been despatched back to the Sheraton to talk to his supervisor and colleagues, looking for something we could use there.

I sat there for a few minutes, thinking things through, before my eyes fell onto Caine, Langstrom and Taylor as they chatted out in the Murder Room. I thought about them and this case that had dropped in my lap as I came to decision, it was past time that everyone knew what we were up against.

 **Los Angeles** **Norwalk**

Simmonds walked away from the burning laundry van and retrieved his rental car, the nondescript hatch was about as anonymous as they came, something he prized. A minute later and he was driving away from the scene and heading for the closest busy road where he soon got lost in the traffic, one more econobox hatch going from A to B, unremarked and unnoticed.

Simmonds relaxed a little, the laundry van had been reported stolen, so soaking the interior in kerosene and burning it out made it look like some kids had stolen it for a joy ride. The flames would destroy any prints that might be there as well. He'd previously offloaded the cleaner's stiffening body into a dumpster almost seven miles from here; even if he was found by someone before the dumpster was dumped into a trash compactor and the body was mulched into mincemeat, there was nothing to connect him with the van.

There was just one more connection that needed to be taken care of and once that had been done he could fade into the background like he'd never existed, just the way he liked it.

 **Los Angeles Watts**

The next morning

For Leroy Grumman life had boiled down to a few essentials, food, shelter, alcohol, not necessarily in that order. His life hadn't ever amounted to much, and when he'd lost his job at Walmart, in part because he was lifting a few items each week he could pawn for more drinking money, he's skidded hard and fast down the ladder, fetching up at the bottom of the heap.

He was doing his usual rounds of dumpsters and other locations people dumped stuff, he occasionally found something that he could pawn for another bottle. This one was of his favourites, he still fondly recalled the day he'd found a complete if old stereo in it, the money from that had paid for almost half a dozen bottles, leading to a major bender he still remembered fondly, if a little dimly.

Looking in the first thing that hit him was the stench, it was bad, Leroy knew what that was, this wasn't his first found body after all, he'd found two junkies before, dead in dumpsters just like this one. For a moment he considered walking away but remembered the local cops were always interested and they were always good for a free coffee or two, maybe even a burger if he was lucky. He peered in; looking to see what was making such a smell then recoiled as he saw the messy wound and all the blood staining the body's chest.

"Poor SOB" Leroy muttered to himself. That changed things, someone had been killed, the cops would really want to know about this and he was certain they'd pay for a decent meal for his info. He nodded to himself, letting the dumpster's lid drop as he turned away and headed for the street at the end of the lane, the cops regularly drove past, he'd just flag one down, easy as pie.

He made his way out onto the nearest cross street and looked round, no cops yet, but there would be. He found a comfortable spot on the sidewalk where he could see both ways and settled down, the local cops would be along soon enough and he'd get his meal and maybe even some cash for a bottle or two.


	55. Chapter 55

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **56 Tales of Lost Girls**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Conference Theatre**

Kate Murphy's viewpoint

We'd gathered in a large lecture theatre inside the LAPDs Parker Centre, capable of seating well over a hundred people easily, it seemed empty with just the LAPD's Major Crimes team, their support people and we visitors.

It seemed strange to include a couple of District Attorneys, the LAPD media person and the Bureau liaison to the LAPD in the briefing but I'd overheard Stella Bonasera asking and being told that they were an integral part of the Major Crimes team so they were in. I'd mentally shrugged; it wasn't my call anyway and headed inside with Megan where we all now were, together making up the combined team working on this case. We'd gathered to get a full brief from the three people closest to the original case, Miami's Caine, Langstrom from Las Vegas and the NYPDs Taylor. They were sitting on three chairs up at the front of the stage with a large screen hanging down behind them. Major Crimes' video guy, James Watson, was working the AV desk to support their presentation.

Chief Johnson stepped up on stage and looked out over the assembled group.

"It looks like everyone's here so let's kick off, time's a'wastin" I couldn't help but smile faintly at her accent as she looked round at the three on stage. "Ready?" They nodded and she turned to look at Watson, getting a 'thumbs up' gesture. Turning back she took us all in and got us started.

"I've asked the combined team to all join us as we get a better knowledge of what we're up against here, given the case we're dealing' with here seems to have ties back to an old case involving all three of them that goes back a ways, to that end I've asked Lieutenant's Caine and Taylor and Doctor Langstrom to explain what they know about the organisation we're dealing with here" She turned to take them in. "So gentlemen, if you would be so kind…" They nodded and Langstrom watched as Brenda moved off the stage before he spoke, his deep, almost rolling voice easily reaching us without much audio enhancement, though it helped that the acoustics here were excellent.

"Thank you Chief Johnson, I might get us started as the case seemed to have its origins in Las Vegas some four years ago" He shrugged. "Or so we thought at the time, now though I have my doubts…" He trailed off then rallied. "Anyway we were investigating a missing person's case regarding a young woman named Samantha Matthews" A picture of a very attractive blonde who must have been Matthews flashed up on the screen as he pushed on. "She had been reported missing by her parents who hadn't heard from her for several days" Langstrom glanced over his shoulder up at the screen then back to us and continued. "Matthews was working as a hostess at one of the major casino's on the strip but was trying to break into modelling; a work colleague at the casino mentioned that she was going to an interview at a new modelling agency, hoping to get some work there. That was the last anyone who knew her saw of her, well alive anyway" He shook his head then pushed on as we waited.

"A search of her cell phone records identified a number of calls made to a burner cell phone; however a search of her apartment led to an address which turned out to be rented office space. We investigated and found that the space had been rented for several weeks by an offshore-based shell company. All the accounts had been paid via offshore bank accounts and the ID of the people renting turned out to be fake as well" He pulled a face for a moment then continued. "We were running out of leads when we received a call from Lieutenant Caine here about a severed leg they had found in the Everglades which DNA had matched to our missing girl, Samantha Matthews. Apparently the limb had been found as part of a search for another missing woman" He glanced across to Caine who nodded and spoke up.

"We had our own missing girl, Ashley Tanner" An image of another attractive woman, brunette this time, popped up behind them, replacing Matthews' image. "She was a promotions girl seeking to break into modelling. A wildlife ranger discovered a severed arm in the Everglades with further searching finding a leg nearby, as both had been mauled by crocs we thought we had a single murder victim, or at least we did until the DNA analysis confirmed we had not one but two separate victims, the arm belonged to Tanner but the leg was identified as Matthews" The screen split to show both women at once as he continued. "As part of our investigation we identified that Tanner's credit card was being used and located and arrested a woman using it, a Madeline Briggs, who claimed she found the card on the side of a highway" The image of both women was replaced with a booking image of a reasonably pretty honey blonde woman, the card identifying her as Madeline Briggs as Caine continued.

"She had priors for soliciting and a couple of minor drug charges, basically nothing of any real consequence" I pursed my lips, wondering how it all fitted together as Caine kept going. "We couldn't prove anything beyond what we had, there was no hard, conclusive evidence definitely tying her to either dead woman so we were eventually forced to release her" There were nods all through the audience at that, every cop had that happen sooner or later, Caine pulled a face. "Not surprisingly she promptly vanished and when we went to talk to her the state of her premises suggested that her departure wasn't by her choice, the door had been broken down and there were signs of a struggle. A search of the apartment turned up her cell phone and her purse and some financial details which led us to discover Briggs had been working as a receptionist at a modelling agency in downtown Miami" Ray Langstrom nodded and spoke up.

"Lieutenant Caine had called me and we discussed the cases, looking for connections before I flew down to join him" Caine nodded and took up the story again.

"When he related the background to Matthews' disappearance we looked into Tanner's background, looking for similarities. Investigations revealed that both women had apparently been aspiring models; Ashley Tanner was working at a promotions company, shopping centres, night clubs, that sort of thing. Her friends confirmed that Tanner had done some small-time modelling gigs but was hoping to make it a career. We tracked down the agency Ashley Tanner had gone to in response to an ad but there was nothing there, just an empty office suite. The building management confirmed it had been a short term rental, four weeks, the minimum rental period, tracing the company that rented it led nowhere, basically the company didn't exist, the accounts that paid the bills were dummy proxies for bank accounts in places like the Caymans, Vanuatu, the Maldives, all places with no real way of finding out who owned them" Caine pulled a face. "It was also the agency that Briggs had been working as a receptionist at" Langstrom nodded and took over.

"On a hunch I got the LVPD digging and much the same story turned up there, different companies in different places but the same M.O. which was the first thing that alerted us that this was much bigger than a couple of missing girls" Caine nodded.

"So we started digging but we didn't get too far, we had a lot of questions and not a lot of answers" Caine turned his head to look at Taylor who nodded.

"Which is about where I came in" Taylor said. "We had a trailer wipe out a SUV on the interstate heading into New York State and roll. The SUV driver was drunk and caused the accident, but the driver of the semi vanished. Police investigating the accident were examining the rig when they found two things. The first was a secret compartment inside the rig, soundproofed and sealed and fitted out with manacles and chains, basically a goddamned dungeon" Images appeared on the screen of the accident, including a young woman's body in one corner of the compartment, there was a tightening of faces around the room, mine included, at the implications as he continued. "The second was a dead body of a young woman, which DNA identified as Madeline Briggs, the missing fugitive from Miami" I saw heads nodding or tipping as we took that on board even as I wondered what had tied it all together.

"It appears Briggs had probably been asleep when the accident happened and she broke her neck when it rolled" Taylor grimaced then continued. "CSI was called in to examine the vehicle to try and identify her, during which we obtained DNA traces from another woman who had apparently been in the truck at around the time. A search of the databases turned up both Briggs identity and that of the other woman, Geraldine Connolly" Watson put up an image of another attractive woman, this one African American. "Connolly was a missing person from Atlanta; a talk with local police turned out that she was a part-time model who had apparently vanished less than a week before" He grimaced and wasn't the only one, I saw it across the audience as a pattern emerged. "Atlanta PD had found the same MO here as well though they didn't know it was the same at the time; a model that had apparently gone to a new agency and never returned. The address was rented, the agency never existed, all dead ends" He gestured to Caine. "I called Miami to let them know we had found Briggs and ended up talking to Horatio here" Caine nodded and continued the thread.

"Mac called me once he saw the warrant for Briggs and we discussed the case, during which he mentioned the other missing girl" he said. "What raised the flag in my eyes though was the modelling connection. I immediately notified Ray in Las Vegas and we decided to make our way to New York to compare notes" Langstrom nodded.

"This was starting to look like something much larger than we'd first thought; I mean missing women from three different parts of the country turning up in a linked case with the same M.O. obviously meant something, but what?" Taylor nodded and chimed in.

"Meanwhile we were still looking for Connolly and the missing truck driver. NYPD found a car in New York City with the driver dead in the trunk and forensics tied it to our case when we found traces of blood on the back seat which DNA matched to Connolly. Our best guess was the semi driver hijacked the car, which belonged to a machinery sales representative on his way back to New York, when it stopped at the accident scene, got himself and a presumably injured Connolly into the vehicle then forced the driver to head to New York, killing him when they got there to cover his tracks"

"In the meantime we'd identified the semi driver as an owner-operator, Sean Casey, resident of Tulsa Oklahoma. At our request local police executed a search warrant on his home but didn't find anything of interest there, plus his record was clean beyond the usual traffic violations you'd expect of a long-distance truck driver. They did however turn up that he was an ex-Army vet from Iraq and after contacting the Pentagon they provided us with DNA markers to help identify Casey" He shrugged. "Every member of the US Armed forces now has their DNA kept on file for cadaver identification purposes, which turned out to be a big help, as we were able to conclusively tie Casey to the vehicle and dead driver in New York" Langstrom took up the story.

"Horatio and I arrived in New York the following day and we compared cases with Mac, it certainly seemed like there was a connection but we didn't know what. We were still working over possible connections when we learned that Casey had been found" Taylor nodded.

"His body had been found up at the far northern end of Manhattan Island at Inwood Park by a couple of sanitation workers, he'd been shot in the face twice with a 45 handgun; based on the forensics it seemed he'd been killed where he was found and had been dead for about six hours" Taylor shrugged. "There was no sign of Geraldine Connolly" Caine nodded.

"So we had three dead women, all with a modelling connection, another still missing, a dead truck driver and not much else" He glanced at his companions. "We didn't have much to go on however Mac suggested that they flood NYC with missing persons notices to see if we could flush out anyone who might have seen Connolly" Taylor grimaced as he spoke up.

"We hit all the usual channels, not really expecting anything but it was worthy a shot"" His mouth turned down in anger or sorrow as he continued. "Unfortunately it worked, but not as intended, instead her body was found three days later, she'd been strangled and dumped in the Hudson. We think the publicity spooked whoever had her into killing her" He shook his head; I saw several people in the audience doing the same as Langstrom continued the story.

"We conducted a full forensics examination and determined that not only had Connolly been strangled, her body had been subject to several beatings across the soft tissue of her torso and thighs and repeated sexual abuse" I ground my teeth in frustration, now understanding Taylor's reaction. "I've seen similar injuries in other cases, the sort often inflicted by pimps on newly recruited prostitutes to ensure their compliance" he said. I'd seen the same thing too, they were agonisingly painful but the bruises healed and no bones were broken and no internal organs were injured. Taylor was shaking his head. "None of the blows had been inflicted to her face where they might mar her appearance"

I looked up to the image on the screen, Connolly had been a quite frankly beautiful woman, now it appeared she'd been kidnapped and transported across the country to a life as a prostitute, only to be murdered. There was a quiet murmur through the audience for a couple of seconds as people took that in before Langstrom continued speaking.

"It was our supposition that the person who was preparing Connolly for her new life as a prostitute in New York had panicked when her face was spread across the city, realising that it immediately raised the likelihood of someone recognising her and possibly sounding the alarm" Langstrom shook his head slowly. "Instead she was killed to prevent any chance of tying her to her captor" Taylor nodded.

"We were surprised at the possibility that Connolly might have been setup to have her spirit broken for use as a prostitute, the reports from Atlanta suggested she was very strong-willed, plus addicted to what a friend described as a relentlessly clean lifestyle; she didn't drink, smoke, do drugs, hell she was a vegan who ran marathons" He shook his head then continued. "Hardly fit the profile of the usual person who ends up in prostitution" Caine nodded and started up.

"My question was why anyone would try and turn her into a prostitute when she could go to the cops at the first available opportunity and get help?" Caine grimaced then pushed on. "Unless she was not going to be in a position to escape to get help" My eyes narrowed as I thought I saw where they were going with this, a destination I didn't much like the look of. "My supposition was that she was being prepared for prostitution in an illegal brothel, basically held prisoner and forced to service specific clients with specific demands" Caine shook his head again as Taylor took over.

"Such a place would probably be servicing clients with demands that normal prostitutes wouldn't be interested in, otherwise why kidnap someone to work there? Plus the fact that it was illegal would provide a reason why customers wouldn't normally talk to the police, even if Connolly was able to tell one what had happened"" I scowled, I'd been thinking the same, sex slavery, right here in America. Based on the low murmurs running through the audience my reaction wasn't uncommon, I saw Megan shaking her head next to me as Taylor continued.

"We followed up for several days but had nothing to go on, every lead had ended up a dead end" He shrugged. "Ray and Horatio headed back to Miami and Las Vegas, leaving me to follow up here. I thought it'd end up a cold case when about a month later I got a call from Horatio, then another from Ray" Caine exchanged a look with Langstrom, got a nod in return and took up the tale.

"We both received a phone call from the Bureau's Cyber Crimes unit in Washington. During an investigation into criminal activity in the so-called deep web, or dark web, they had stumbled across two of our victims. They had located a cache of so-called snuff videos, where the victims had been tortured to death" A ripple of shock and muttering ran through the audience.

"I had no idea that even existed, that it was just an urban legend" It was Megan's quiet voice from beside me; I glanced her way and frowned.

"Nor I" Caine had paused to let us take that in before pushing on.

"Five videos in total were found, showing two men and three women, two of whom facial recognition software had identified as Ashley Tanner and Samantha Matthews" There were nods across the room as people were already leaping ahead. "The four-hour videos showed each victim being beaten, then tortured slowly over a period of more than two hours, before being killed and their bodies being dismembered. The location in the videos appeared to be the same" His expression was very tightly controlled, as was his voice. "The dismemberment of both Tanner and Matthews was consistent with the state of the limbs that we recovered in the Everglades. I assume they dumped the bodies of the victims in the Everglades where the crocodiles would dispose of the evidence" I nodded to myself; it was a logical conclusion as Taylor took up the tale.

"We got in touch with the Bureau who put us in touch with their Cyber division. They tried to help us identify the others unfortunately we had no luck with the remaining female and one of the males but the second male turned out to be a missing person from Boise in Idaho, they'd been missing for at least a year" A photo of an attractive man, mid to late twenties appeared, with his artfully tousled hair, piercing blue eyes and designer stubble he was handsome enough that if I met him in a bar I'd be more than interested, Langstrom was the next to speak.

"Examination of the video suggested that the male victim, a Dwayne Richards, had been subject to long term physical trauma before his death at the hands of his captors" A collage of images appeared on screen showing the signs of repeated injury, my training was already cataloguing them even as I winced at what they represented. Meanwhile Caine had continued on.

"This was confirmed several months later when the Cyber division contacted us to say they'd located another video, this time on a laptop belonging to a suspect that had been arrested on another crime. Police were looking for paedophile imagery but found not just plenty of that but a selection of these 'torture porn' videos, including two of Dwayne Richards being systematically brutalised. Based on the location it appeared they were all made in the same location as the final, fatal video" Taylor nodded and took over from Caine.

"We had immediately contacted the Boise Police when Richards identity was confirmed and they confirmed a similar MO, another would-be model contacting agencies, it seems he contacted one of these bogus ones and ended up as one of their victims" He grimaced. "Based on what we now know, it appears he was kidnapped, handed over to a maker of these torture films and was subject to regular torture sessions where he was filmed, before eventually being tortured to death, on camera, by the person who made these films" There was a long silence at that as people took in the implications.

"We continued investigating, not getting far when we had a breakthrough of sorts" said Taylor, looking to Langstrom who nodded and took over.

"LVPD attended the scene of a traffic incident involving a semi rig. The driver, a Lionel Collins, had a previous outstanding traffic warrant and was taken into custody. When the salvage people went to retrieve the semi and move it to impound they were alerted by faint banging, it turned out there were two girls in the back of the rig, one from Memphis and the other from New Orleans" They were taken to hospital where it was found they were dehydrated and weak but otherwise unharmed. When questioned they told us that only an hour or so prior to the accident the truck they were in had met up with another semi, transferring another girl from Houston, who had been handed over to Collins the previous day, to yet another semi, bound god knows where" He paused for a moment as we took that in, then continued.

"What we had was the inklings of something much bigger, a network of semi rigs transporting kidnapped young men and women across the country, with evidence that some had ended up in horror videos while it appeared that some were destined for prostitution" Langstrom looked at his two companions. "Needless to say I shared that right away" There were scattered nods as he continued. "Transport across state lines is a Federal offence so we called in the Bureau. Together, working backwards from the time of the accident and based on the recollections of the two women rescued we managed to identify the truck stop where the handover had taken place and found footage from a nearby CCTV camera showing two rigs pulled up close together and far from any other trucks, one of which was the truck involved in the accident. They managed to get an identity on the other truck and alerted police to report in if they saw I" He looked round the audience before continuing.

"There was no news for almost 24 hours, then we heard it had been spotted in Oregon, the Bureau organised for the rig to be trailed all the way into Washington State, to a warehouse in Seattle"

"They moved in when the vehicle stopped, unfortunately the bust ran into trouble, a fire fight erupted and the driver, a Robert Jones, bolted. Special Agent Romanov was unfortunate enough to run into him, receiving stab wounds to the stomach and torso, fortunately she was able to shoot and kill her attacker before he could finish the job" I winced at his matter of fact description, especially given Ana Romanov was sitting down near the front, four rows in front of me, her wife by her side as Caine spoke up.

"Fortunately the young woman being transported in the truck was rescued" He shook his head. "Interviewing all three victims the same details emerged, all three were attractive young women who had applied for modelling jobs in Houston, Memphis and New Orleans, had been drugged and held for several days before being placed on board semi rigs and shipped across the country" He grimaced. "The fact that we had three young women kidnapped and in transit all at once suggested that the scope and size of the organisation was much larger than we had previously imagined, quite obviously their scope was nationwide, New York to Seattle and Las Vegas to Miami and numerous points in between"

"We held out hope that we would ascertain something from our driver in custody, Lionel Collins" It was Langstrom. "Unfortunately two days after his arrest he was shanked and killed in holding. Naturally we investigated and narrowed our suspects down to one man, a repeat offender named Clyde Caldwell; he had a long string of assault with deadly weapons charges and was facing a long term in prison. We went to bring him in for questioning but he was found strangled in a prison washroom" I chewed my lip at that, that couldn't be a coincidence, something Ray Langstrom confirmed. "It is our opinion that the organisation was killing off potential leads and then killing off any connection to themselves; quite obviously, and disturbingly, their reach is significant, including the ability to operate inside the prison system" He shook his head then pressed on.

"So what we have is a group that sets up in various locations across the country, advertises for potential male and female models looking to break into the industry and thus self-selecting attractive victims. From what we've learned from the few rescued victims we've determined that those chosen are drugged, then moved to somewhere secure where they are kept until they can be loaded into a semi-trailer heading towards their ultimate destination. This may entail being passed from one driver to another several times before delivery" Langstrom nodded.

"We have not yet had any success in locating, let alone rescuing anyone who has been delivered to their final destination, or the person who has purchased them, so we are not completely sure of the process" He shrugged. "Obviously the organisation, we are sure it is an organisation, is active across the nation and has set up a transport system to link potential victims to their final destinations, plus has a network in place to handle selection, transport, sale and money laundering of the proceeds of their activities"

I shook my head; he'd just neatly described a sex slavery and trafficking ring operating on a national scale, how had it escaped notice? I wasn't the only one wondering as I heard Seely Booth's voice ring out.

"How the hell are we only hearing about something like this now?" The three on stage exchanged looks before Caine spoke.

"You have to understand, all we have are three rescued victims from one transport operation, a few more missing, later dead, victims and some speculation to link those victims to final fates" He shrugged. "We have a few points of congruence and a lot of idle speculation, all sewn together over a period of years, but until now the only people who had any idea of the potential scope of this organisation were Mac, Ray and I" Taylor nodded.

"Every operation we've accidentally stumbled across has led to a dead end, quite often literally. They killed the driver in New York, Casey, no doubt for bringing the heat down on them, plus they killed the young woman there as well. Collins, the driver we had in custody in Las Vegas was murdered by another prisoner who was in turn killed, there were no witnesses to that killing so that lead died with him" He glanced at the front row to where Ana sat. "Agent Romanov was forced to kill the driver up there, Robert Jones" The two people waiting to take delivery of the woman being transported, Felicity Kruger of Houston…" Her image appeared behind him on the screen. "…were identified as low level criminals, apparently hired to transport the woman to a remote location, leave their victim locked inside the shipping container and collect the money waiting for them, no doubt she would then be collected by the buyer some time later" He shook his head. "Both men had only ever met a single contact, he introduced himself as Mister Johnson, he'd recruited them and told them that if they did the job right there would be regular work for them" He sighed. "Their interrupted transfer of Miss Kruger would have been their fourth such victim in 9 months" I winced at that, four kidnapped women delivered to a single, not all that large city in less than a year…

Taylor looked to Caine who shook his head and took up the story. "Despite our best efforts we've had almost nothing we can take further, until the people behind this made a mistake" He shrugged. "They may have finally made that mistake" Langstrom nodded and took over.

"Trying for all three of us in one place, when the only thing we have in common compared to the rest of the conference attendees is this single case, actually provides proof that the organisation exists and is aware of what we've been doing" He looked round the room as he continued. "Their decision to target us suggests the person or persons in charge of the organisation is aware of our actions and was actively seeking retribution for what little we have achieved" Langstrom smiled, a little ruefully, then shrugged. "That in itself suggests an interesting personality profile which others better qualified than I might be able to work with" The others nodded and I noticed Brenda walking back on stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, obviously we're going to be getting together in groups to discuss this, but does anyone have anything they wish to contribute now, something that may help the case?" She looked around the group. "There's a lot of bright people with diverse experience and worldviews in the room so please speak up" There was silence for about five seconds before I saw a hand raised off to the left. Brenda noticed it and called out.

"Yes Doctor Danville?" Jo Danville rose.

"Obviously I've had a while to think on this, given one of the first cases happened in New York…anyway I gave some thought to the infrastructure necessary to make this all happen, it has to be pretty complex and every case since just suggests it's bigger and more complex than I'd previously imagined" Brenda nodded.

"Please go on" Jo looked around.

"There were seven semi-trailers involved in transporting those three women that were recovered, one girl was shipped from New Orleans and according to the truck's manifest, it was headed to San Francisco with another girl while the third was on her way to Seattle, that's a lot of coordination, or a lot of trucks" I nodded, seeing Megan and some others do the same as Brenda spoke.

"Or quite possibly both" Jo nodded and continued.

"When police looked into the truck that crashed on its way to New York, it was on a perfectly normal cargo run, having sub-contracted to a major freight company, the same as the other trucks had" I frowned at that, it meant that they had a legitimate reason to be on the run, covering the other, far less legitimate, delivery they were making. "Suggesting contacts across the country in shipping and logistics" She frowned. "Or perhaps not, but we need to look into it"

"Indeed, you can bet we'll be taking a good hard look into that very thing" Brenda said. Jo nodded and sat as Brennan's husband, the Bureau agent Booth, stood.

"You suggested the personality profile of the people at the top of this organisation, whatever it's called, might be something for a specialist" Langstrom nodded as Booth continued. "The people at the Bureau's BAU are experts in that sort of thing, we should talk to them, get them to work something up.

"A good idea, hopefully we have enough for them to work with" said Brenda "Please come see me after and we'll get the ball rolling" She looked across at another raised hand, Jordan Cavanagh's partner Detective Hoyt. "Yes detective, you had a question?" Hoyt stood and looked around then spoke.

"Was there anything the three drivers you'd come across had in common?" Brenda looked to the three and Caine answered it.

"All three were ex-military, ex-Army veterans, to the best of our knowledge that was it. They didn't really have the same customers, the same shipping agents, the first one, Casey, worked the east coast, the second, Collins, mostly the southwest while the last, the one in Seattle, Jones, he worked the west coast" Hoyt nodded and followed up.

"Was there a connection within the Army, same unit maybe?" Taylor shook his head.

"Not that we found at first look, but on the other hand we now have the resources to have another look at that so come talk to me afterwards and we can set about looking into it" Hoyt nodded and sat as Brenda spoke.

"Thank you detective. Yes Detective Beckett?" Kate Beckett stood from down front where she was sitting with Rizzoli, Benson and Romanov, I'd picked up that they were friends already.

"I think we need to look into the money that went into setting this organisation up and running it" She spread her hands. "A nationwide organisation kidnapping people across the country, selling them to customers across the country and then shipping them backwards and forwards via a network of trucks, that's going to take a lot of people and expertise to set up and run and it doesn't come cheap" She looked round and shrugged. "Obviously they're making money now but the people behind this had to have had money to set it up" Brenda nodded.

"Good point, when we get back let's try and do some desk work, try and work out how much it would cost to set up: Brenda smiled at Beckett. "I might get you to lead that one Kate, like they say, let no good deep go unpunished" Beckett nodded and sat back as Megan rose her hand and was acknowledged as I turned to see her stand, interested in her question.

"Nothing on how they got the information about when and where they were to pick up their unwilling passengers and coordinate with their delivery people?" Langstrom handled that.

"Text messages, sent from burner phones, when we traced where the calls came from, we found that they came from phones that were changed monthly" I grimaced, someone was being careful. Megan obviously thought so too as her next question showed.

"Were they bought in one place or all over the country?" The three on stage looked between each other then back at Megan before Caine replied.

"That's a good question; we traced the ones we found to New York, Miami, Houston, Chicago and here in Los Angeles, some sold by sellers who had no interest in records, the rest apparently sold on the black market?" Brenda nodded.

"We need to look into that, if some were sold here that gives us a point to start" Megan nodded and sat as I caught her eye and smiled, getting one back as Calleigh Duquesne raised her hand and was noted by Brenda, standing and speaking.

"Nothing came from the investigation into either of the other two dead driver's killings?" asked Duquesne.

"Unfortunately no, Casey was shot twice in the face, but we had no record of the weapon in our database. It hadn't been used before or since" Caine said as I nodded, it made sense, this group were careful and smart. "The person who we suspect shanked Collins in holding was found dead in a Las Vegas jail and his killer was never identified"

"The organisation tidying up loose ends it seems" Duquesne noted, getting a nod from Taylor.

"Yeah, they seem to be good at that" Calleigh sat as Jane Rizzoli lifted her hand where she was sitting next to Olivia Benson and was recognised, standing to be seen by everyone.

"You said the transfer people in Seattle spoke to someone, did you get a description?" Caine nodded.

"Yeah, big guy, African-American, quiet spoken, said his name was Johnson. The place he picked to meet was a bar without camera's covering the tables and it was pretty dark, so they didn't get the best of looks at him. We got a composite drawing pulled together but it's so vague it could be anyone from Mike Tyson to Jay-Z" Jane nodded.

"Probably don't know anything then" She shrugged. "After all they're still alive" Taylor frowned at that then replied.

"They were, but I'd better check and make sure" Rizzoli nodded and sat as Brenda indicated her partner, sitting just down from her on the front row.

"Yes Doctor Isles" Maura stood from where she was sitting between Natalie Dearing and the lawyer, Alex Cabot, they were apparently close friends, going back to long before the trial.

"Do you have a figure for the number of potential victims that may have been abducted by this organisation?" Caine handled that.

"We didn't have the resources for a comprehensive search, but it's got to be dozens over the last few years" Maura nodded.

"We have established a baseline for the profile of abductees, younger attractive men and women who aspire to be models" She looked to Brenda. "Might I suggest that we ask Detective Khan to set up an appropriate algorithm to interrogate the missing person's database to isolate men and women between the ages of 20 and 30 who have been reported missing? Once we have that we can individually sort the records and follow up on those cases that seem to fit the criteria" She smiled politely. "It may give us a much better figure for the size and scope of the operation of this organisation that we are up against"

"Excellent idea Doctor" Brenda turned to where one of her team was sitting, at the end of my row. "Detective Khan, is that do-able do you think?" The man stood and nodded.

"It may take some work, but I believe that it should be Chief" Brenda nodded with satisfaction.

"Excellent work" She looked around. "Anyone else…no? Well then we have a number of avenues to pursue people, so let's get to it"

We headed back to work.


	56. Chapter 56

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **56 Backtracking**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Medical Examiner's office**

Maura's viewpoint

"Mil-Spec Industries came back on our request about the RDX" Lieutenant Taylor was bringing the Forensics team up to date on his enquiries. "It was from a batch supplied about eleven months ago to the US Army. It was apparently delivered to the Army's Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, that's a base specialising in ammunition research and development amongst other things" I nodded at his information and replied.

"Lieutenant Taylor, could I please ask you to make enquiries with the relevant Army authorities regarding the disposition of that explosive shipment" He grimaced slightly before replying.

"I already gave them a call, but they pretty much blew me off" Stella Bonasera spoke up to back up her former superior and obvious friend.

"The Army's not exactly known for responding all that well to out of the blue requests on missing ordinance" At our looks she shrugged expressively. "Just saying" I nodded, acknowledging her concern.

"Indeed, fortunately we have someone who they cannot all that easily ignore" I smiled and turned to Jordan Cavanagh who was standing there, listening raptly to the conversation; consulting my phone I copied a number down to a post-it note and passed the number to Jordan with a smile. "Doctor Cavanagh, could I ask you to please call Special Agent Romanov on that number and ask her to stop by at her earliest convenient opportunity" She smiled.

"At once Doctor" As she moved to a phone I smiled at the others.

"I am sure Agent Romanov will be able to chase down our lead promptly" Lieutenant Taylor frowned before speaking.

"Like Stella here said, the Army doesn't take to well to anyone, not even the Bureau, sniffing into their business" I nodded in acknowledgment of his concern.

"That may be so, however in addition to her current role with the Bureau Agent Romanov was formerly a senior investigator with the US Army Military Police, thus providing her with contacts otherwise unavailable" There were thoughtful expressions around the table as they considered my words before Doctor Langston smiled.

"A very useful person to know then" I smiled in return before replying.

"Indeed"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

"We got something" Hearing Calleigh Duquesne's words directed to Andy Flynn across their shared desk as I walked past on the way back to my office I diverted course, walking up behind her and speaking up.

"Then would you be kind enough to share your good news detective?" At my voice she turned quickly, blushing slightly.

"Oh sorry Chief" I nodded and made a coaxing motion. "Oh yeah, it turns out Chen Hui-Lee, the cleaner at the Sheraton, had a gambling problem, he was in deep to a bookie apparently" I nodded, that was certainly leverage right there. "The search of his apartment found a pile of horse racing form guides, tickets to the tracks and betting slips at his house so I had Khan go through his financials again and it turned out a fair amount of his pay had been vanishing out of his accounts, withdrawn from ATMs at the tracks on race days"

"Good work detective, you mentioned betting slips, do we have the name of the bookie in question?" She held up a post it note with a name.

"That we do, his name is Jeff Kennett" She waved towards Andy Flynn who took up the tale.

"We found he operates at a couple of the tracks but he has an office in Cypress Park" I nodded slowly as he continued. "As it isn't race day at any of those tracks, I figure he'll be at his office"

"Excellent, Detective Duquesne, if you would be so kind could I ask you to accompany Lieutenant Flynn here when he invites Mister Kennett to join us here in the Parker Centre, I would love to have a chat with him" I got a happy smile and a nod.

"On it Chief" Andy nodded as he rolled his chair back and stood.

"You got it Chief"

With that done I continued on back to my office, to find a peremptory summons up to Will Pope's office, apparently he wanted an update and I was to make myself available forthwith. Grimacing I tossed down my coffee and headed up, resigning myself to a wasted half hour or more.

So it was that 45 minutes later I arrived back, Pope's demands to 'make progress' still ringing in my ears. I understood the man was under pressure from the Mayor's office, bombings in hotels weren't good for LA tourism, but it was like he expected me to mystically conjure up leads out of thin air. The fact that he was facing election later this year just added more urgency to the situation in his eyes, leaving me snorting softly as I headed back into Major Crimes. The sheer number of people working in there still took me back just a little, the place was a hive of activity with people working phones, working on computers or standing around whiteboards making notes and comparing ideas. I did another round of the team, catching up and getting updates before heading back into my office, where a pile of reports and 'urgent' emails awaited me.

 **Los Angeles Cypress Park**

Simmonds silently frowned, watching as Kennett got into that Suburban of his, it was obviously armoured, god knows he'd seen enough to know, back in the sandpit. They'd been something of a status symbol for some of the Iraqi Ministers, well armoured without the negative connotations of a Hummer, stupid given they were both made in the USA but he'd given up trying to understand the ins and outs of politics in that miserable hell-hole. Anyway the run flat tyres and the obviously refitted heavy glass windows were a dead giveaway.

The older guy and the attractive blonde women in suits who climbed into the equally obvious unmarked Crown Vic that then followed the Suburban as it pulled away just screamed cops; I mean who the hell else drove one of those old clunkers now?

It meant the cops had moved fast, a lot faster than he expected to be honest, plus given Kennett travelled everywhere accompanied by two guards and the driver, he'd have to change his initial plans. His initial thought had been to get under the car while it was parked and place a bomb with a radio detonator and boom, no more problem, Simmonds liked explosives, they tended to do the job and he was a big believer in the old saying; 'there's no kill like overkill'.

Unfortunately Kennett kept it garaged inside that fortress he called an office and the driver stayed with it whenever the car went anywhere. Simmonds sighed to himself as he drove off, already junking that idea and looking for an alternative. The issue with dealing with justifiably paranoid people was that it made getting to them that much harder. Not impossible, just difficult, a tougher nut just required a bigger hammer. With that in mind he turned his thoughts to procuring that hammer.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

The bookie, Stephen Kennett, was sitting across from me and, contrary to both my expectations and experience, was being very helpful.

"Yeah, I sold that mark a month or so back" I nodded as he continued. "Hui-Lee was into me for just over 20 thousand, I was pushing him to pay up but he was having trouble, I guess cleaning hotels doesn't pay too well. Anyway this guy, calls himself Dan Brown, calls my office and tells me he's a friend of Lee's and wants to pay off the debt" He shrugged. "I said sure, come on down and talk"

"Describe this man please" It was Caine, sitting next to me.

"Tall, fit-looking black guy, well dressed, slacks, blazer, polo, no real accent y'know" I nodded, seeing Caine do the same as he took notes. "He wanted to meet at a café but I insisted he come to my office, safer y'know"

"How so?" Kennett shrugged nonchalantly, obviously at ease here.

"I'm a bookie, there's lots of people out there who owe me money, a lot of money in some cases and some of them think killing me will make their problems go away, I've had a few close calls over the years so now I play it safe y'know, security guys, bulletproof car, decent security at the office and given I live above my business anyone who wants to take me out has to work hard to get to me" I nodded and spoke.

"I understand Mister Kennett, you were telling us about this man…" I coaxed.

"Yeah, he complained about it but he wanted something from me so he had to play by my rules" He shrugged. "Said he was a friend of Lee's, wanted to buy him out which I didn't believe for a minute…he wasn't paying off the debt y'know, he was buying it" Kennett pulled a face then continued. "He bought the debt for fifteen, I was happy to sell it for that, it got Lee off my books and I'd told him I wasn't taking anymore bets from him, he'd just rack up more debt he couldn't pay back" Caine and I exchanged a glance as he took up the questioning.

"If we ask you to sit down with a sketch artists do you think you could remember this man, the one who bought the debt" Kennett shook his head then smiled.

"I can do you one better, how would you like pictures?" I nodded carefully, keeping my hopes under control as I played it cool.

"That would of course be very helpful Mister Kennett" He nodded easily in return.

"Yeah, I have a lot of camera's around the outside of my office, easy to see they're there and that keeps the local gangs away, but there's also a lot of them inside watching my employees, some of them are visible, some not, y'know?" I nodded as he continued. "The ones in my office though are hidden, real well hidden" He smirked. "This Brown guy was looking for them, I could tell, but I paid good money to have them invisible, including the ones in the front of the desk so I can give you some nice shots of the guy's face"

"We'd appreciate that sir" Caine said as I backed him up.

"Mister Kennett, you have indeed been very helpful" He shrugged casually as he replied.

"You guys aren't giving me any grief, plus the local cops have always been good when I've had any issues at my office y'know, so yeah, not a problem" He leaned forward. "Besides, when a pretty blonde detective knocks on my door and asks me to come down town for a chat all polite like, why not" He suddenly grinned. "She even said please, and besides, I'm a total sucker for a southern accent" I saw Caine frown at Kennett's statement, making me wonder about his issues even as I smiled politely and amped my accent right up, laying it on thick as I could.

"Why thank you Mister Kennett, thank you very much indeed, the LAPD, and I personally, are very, very grateful for the help you've been kind enough to extend to us today" I got a chuckle followed by a shake of the head in return.

"Now you're just teasing me"

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

" _We have a problem_ " Simmonds stated down the phone, drawing a frown and a question from Wynter.

"What problem?"

" _The cops grabbed the bookie, Kennett. He doesn't really know enough to say anything, all he's got is an alias and I tried to avoid any cameras but the fact the cops got so close so quick is…disturbing_ " Wynter nodded unconsciously before replying.

"Well, we did kick open a hornets nest, going after the cops here on LAPD turf; it's not like our usual"

" _I did learn something fairly interesting though_ " At that Wynter sat back in his chair to listen, Simmonds had very good instincts; they'd kept him alive in a dangerously unforgiving profession for over two decades.

"Yeah?" Simmonds gave it to him straight.

" _The cops aren't dicking around over this, they've assigned it to their Major Crimes team_ " Wynter frowned, that rang a bell, he thought it over for a few seconds before replying.

"Isn't that those lesbians who caught the bent cops working for a Mexican cartel last year?"

" _That's them_ " Simmonds paused then continued. " _Remember that street ambush and shoot out here about six, seven months back?_ " Wynter nodded, he remembered all too well, it had reminded him way too much of Iraq.

"Was that them?"

" _Yeah it was_ " Simmonds confirmed. " _They're apparently investigating this job_ " Wynter grimaced, he didn't want to get into a war with the LAPD, it was bad for business, something he conveyed to his friend.

"Make sure you bury all the loose ends as deep and as quick as you can, I don't want those cops, lesbian or not, sniffing anywhere around our operations"

" _You got it_ " At Simmonds confident reply Wynter nodded to himself and changed the subject.

"What about the bookie?" Simmonds was cool.

" _The cops will release him because he really doesn't know much to tell them, nothing they can hold him on or charge him with so when they do let him go we'll take care of it_ " He paused then continued. " _I've tapped John Phillips, you remember him, we worked with him in Basra?_ "

"I remember him" Wynter replied. "You thinking of using him?"

" _No, but he runs a plumbing business so I've paid him for his van, we're going to use it as an ambush vehicle, we're converting it tonight, Phillips will call it in tomorrow morning as stolen, that covers his ass, we use the van in an ambush on Kennett, Phillips gets the insurance money, the cops find another dead end and we're sweet_ " Wynter thought about it for a few seconds then responded.

"See to it my friend; we want the cops chasing dead ends, not us" Simmonds confidence was reassuring.

" _I hear ya man, will do_ "

With that the call ended, leaving Danny Wynter feeling the first stirrings of real concern.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

"I got some info back on that explosive batch that was used in the hotel bombings" I nodded as did several others as Anastasia continued. "Apparently that batch was shipped to the Army's ordinance testing facility and then, according to their records was then transferred out of the unit, apparently for shipping to the Pakistan military as part of a weapons and equipment shipment" She pulled a face. "According to the Pentagon's records, that shipment was delivered" There was an outbreak of frowns at that, mine included at that little piece of news. Caine was the first to speak.

"It looks like at least some got lost on the way" Ana nodded and replied.

"Yeah, I've got calls in with some people I know in the Pentagon; they're going to look into it" She waved her cell phone. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear something"

"Do we know how much RDX was in that batch?" asked Kate Beckett, getting a shake of the head.

"Apparently some 25 kilos, but some of the paperwork's missing so I've asked my contact in the Pentagon to chase that up too" She pulled a face. "I'll let you know as soon as I have anything" I nodded.

"Do we have an idea of how much was used in the bombings?" I asked, getting interested looks at that rather pertinent question. Maura leaned forward and spoke.

"That is an excellent question, so I have asked Doctor Brennan to look into that very matter" She looked three places down the table and smiled. "Doctor…?" Brennan nodded and leaned forwards, her face lighting up as she opened a file, I'd tagged her as a lot like Maura, a genius who loved learning new things and sharing that knowledge, I'd thought Maura was unique but from what I'd seen Brennan wasn't far behind her.

"Thank you Doctor" She looked around the table then down at the paperwork. "We have conducted extensive analysis of the damage done to each of the rooms and cross referenced that with the literature from the manufacturer regarding the efficacy of RDX. Initially we believed we were looking at approximately 1000 grams of RDX per bomb, however following a discussion with a specialist with the Bureau that Agent Romanov was able to put us in contact with, it would seem the directed nature of the explosion would, if done right, require less explosives" I frowned even as Taylor leaned forward.

"How much less?" Brennan acknowledged his question and looked down, obviously confirming the figures before speaking, another person for whom being accurate was a defining trait.

"Our estimation is somewhere between 500 and 600 grams, perhaps slightly less given the directed nature of the blast" She looked around the table. "That is still some three times the amount of explosive contained within the US Army's standard anti-personnel hand grenade, the M67" There were widened eyes around the table before Bonasera spoke.

"And there's 25 kilos of this stuff missing, Jesus" I nodded slowly, equally appalled, just hiding it better as Brennan nodded.

"I agree, it is concerning. I have spoken to the bomb squad officers who are attempting to defuse the device that was recovered from the Sheraton, they agree that the quantity of RDX contained within the device is in that range" She grimaced. "They have identified three separate anti-tamper devices of the bomb, and believe they have deactivated two of them, they will be attempting to render it safe in the next few hours" I nodded.

"Please keep us informed Doctor" I got a nod in return as I looked to Mendoza.

"Detective, how is the missing persons matching going?" I got a small frown.

"Khan's confident he can pull it together, it's just refining the search to exclude stuff that's not relevant, plus avoid what he's calling false repeat positives" She got several frowns before Jane asked the question.

"What's a false repeat positive?" I held a smile in at that, glad someone else had asked, saving me from having to. Mikki nodded and launched into an explanation.

"The system tripping over a missing person in New York, then also assigning another case to New Jersey when they provided assistance on the New York case, then again when the Feds got involved, if were not careful the same person might turn up four or five times, overstating the numbers and making a big job much worse" I nodded, her explanation made sense as she gestured towards Taylor. "Like that woman Connolly you mentioned yesterday, she turns up in Atlanta where she vanished, then again in New York when you were looking for her there and finally in Bureau records when they opened the case because it was transport across state lines, so three hits on the same case"

"Ah got you" Jane said as a few others nodded while I got us back on course.

"How long do you think before you start getting leads detective?" Mikki looked to me.

"Khan said by tomorrow morning, given how good he is at this stuff I expect we'll be seeing matches before lunch" I smiled, both at the news and her obvious support for her partner.

"That would be excellent, please convey my thanks to Detective Khan" I got a nod as I continued. "Depending how many matches you get, you may need more people, so please keep me informed of how you're going"

"Will do"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Explosives Test Range**

"That should do it" stated Sergeant Brett Grimmond. A big bear of a man, he could be surprisingly dextrous for someone so large, in fact one of his hobbies was miniatures gaming, intricately painting armies of tiny figures and vehicles and achieving amazing results, fortunately he brought the same dexterity to the job here, carefully guiding the bomb disposal robot via remote control as its pincers, now replaced with wire-cutters, moved agonisingly slowly towards the wire they had identified as connecting to the last of the anti-tampering devices. They'd made safe two others and hopefully this was the last.

"I don't know who this bastard is, but he knows his stuff" Sergeant Gerry Lopez noted, for about the fifth time. "Gotta be either an EOD like us or military demolitions" Lieutenant Chandler nodded then decided to exert a little order in his team.

"Give Grimmo some quiet guys" The group clustered around the monitor subsided as Grimmond manoeuvred the cutters around the wire via joystick, careful not to touch any other wires with the cutters, finally he was satisfied.

"Here we go…" His thumb pressed the joystick trigger and the blades snipped shut inhumanly quickly as everyone unconsciously winced, but the image remained stable. Grimmond let out a satisfied sigh.

"That ought to do it" There was a restrained round of ' _well done's_ ' and ' _congrats_ ' before Chandler got them back to business.

Okay, let's get this damned thing inside and on a bench where we can tear it apart" There were nods at that and the group exited the control van and gathered up their gear. They had just turned back when, without warning, the bomb and the robot still perched over it vanished in an explosion. Chandler and his people instinctively ducked but they were, by design, far enough away that no shrapnel reached them. Turning back they could see the robot was a wreck, good for scrap and not much more, while of the bomb there was nothing. Lopez summed it all up.

"Well shit"

 **Los Angeles Wellington Heights**

Simmonds grinned to himself behind the wheel of his rental. The fourth and last fail safe for his bombs was a text message from the inbuilt cell chip, notifying him that someone had cut the last of his anti-tamper devices. The drop in voltage triggered a text to his cell, a string of sad face emoji's. He gave it 30 seconds to try and catch some of the bomb techs in the blast and sent a text back to the bomb and grinned, knowing it had just gone off, hopefully taking a cop or two with it.

He'd learnt demolitions in the Army, seen all the various ways the insurgents had set up bombs and learnt from them, if there was one thing he was a little petty about, it was his bombs, he'd back his skill against any EOD tech anywhere.

Hopefully a couple of dead or maimed bomb techs would teach the rest to not mess with his stuff.

With that he removed the battery from the burner phone and dumped it out the window, then drove off, he'd crush the phone and dump it at his next stop, leaving the cops with one more in a series of dead ends.

Once he took care of the bookie that should leave the local cops grasping at straws, he'd be in the wind and the cops left floundering in the dark, like always.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Jane's viewpoint

"So this Brown guy…" I began, only to be interrupted by Liv.

"Definitely an alias…"

"Thank you Sergeant Obvious…" I trailed off but she just gave me a grin so I ploughed on. "How did he know someone at that particular hotel owed a bookie and was having trouble paying?" I got thoughtful expressions from Ana, Kate and Liv at that. A few seconds later Kate spoke.

"Looks like we need to talk to his co-workers, see if any of them knew" I nodded and shortly thereafter Liv and Kate headed out as Ana and I turned our attention back to the timeline Kate had put up on the centre whiteboard, noting the last sighting of our suspect at work not long before 9am the morning after the bombing

"So Hui-Lee turns up for work first thing in the morning, long enough to be seen, then vanishes. Why?" I asked, getting a thoughtful pause from Ana before she replied.

"Couple of possibilities, could be he came in to establish an alibi before running, but I doubt it" I nodded.

"Yeah, I don't think so, why come in when he could have bolted long before the bombs went off, given himself an additional 12 hours head start" I shook my head. "No, not likely" Ana nodded and tapped her chin.

"Agreed, so we assume then that wasn't the reason, why would he come in?"

"He maybe didn't know?" We turned to see the New Orleans detective, Stella Bonasera standing behind us with a coffee from the café downstairs in her hand. She looked from Ana to me and continued. "I mean like you said, why give up a much larger head start to come in to work?"

"So he didn't know and came in to work as normal?" I said as I thought it through while Bonasera came round to stand on the other side of me from Ana. "When he gets in he discovers which rooms blew and puts two and two together…"

"And realises someone's played him" Ana interrupted. "He organised the access cards to those rooms, not realising what his friend Mister Brown was going to do" I nodded.

"He was being blackmailed into helping this guy Brown or whatever his name is…" Bonasera nodded.

"Hand over the key cards to clear the debt, which he did, not knowing he was setting himself up as an accessory to murder" I nodded.

"Not until he got in, then realised he was screwed" Bonasera nodded.

"So figure he ran" At her comment Ana thought about it then countered.

"Ran where though?" She looked from me to Bonasera and back. "We've confirmed that he came in to work by bus, we've confirmed his car's still parked at home, how far could he get?" I pulled a face as she continued. "We'll need to talk to friends, family, known associates plus start a TSA check for airports"

"Maybe, maybe not" I broke in; they both looked to me as I explained what I was thinking. "From what we've seen of his financials, he was living pretty much hand to mouth, what he wasn't gambling away he was paying back to his bookie, so it's not like he's flush with cash, plus there's been no activity on his credit cards since before the explosions, and they were pretty much maxed out anyway"

"So he's gone to ground somewhere here in LA?" Ana asked, looking to me.

"Like you said, friends, family maybe" Bonasera added. I nodded then had a grim thought come to me, one I shared.

"There is another possibility" Ana looked to me and spoke up.

"Well don't just sit on it Jane, what?"

"Given the ruthless bastards we seem to be up against, you have to assume he was a loose end and we know what they do to loose ends" Both of them grimaced in unison then nodded as Ana put it into words.

"Shit"


	57. Chapter 57

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **57 Investigations**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I saw Lieutenant Provenza finish his phone conversation and then look round, spotting me talking to Calleigh and Stella, he immediately walked over as I turned to him; it was obviously urgent.

"Yes Lieutenant, has something come up?"

"Yeah, we've located Chen Hui-Lee, that cleaner from the hotel" I smiled, happily anticipating sitting him down across an interrogation table.

"Why that's excellent news indeed, might I ask where was he located?" He shook his head.

"Downstairs on one of the Doc's slabs" I lost the smile as Stella and Calleigh exchanged a look and I asked the obvious question.

"Lieutenant Provenza, please explain to me how our primary suspect and in fact our only real lead at this point, ended up down there?"

"The M.E.s office just called, they had a dead body transferred in, a local vagrant found him in a dumpster over in Watts; apparently he'd been knifed in the chest. When the vic got transferred here they did the usual prints check and it turned out to be our suspect" I took a slow deep breath and then nodded slowly before speaking.

"Then I should head downstairs and see what Doctor Isles and her newfound associates can tell me"

Several minutes later I was standing on one side of the slab, looking across our suspect, now victim's body with Maura, Temperance Brennan and Kate Murphy standing on the other side as Maura brought me up to speed.

"Naturally, as soon as Doctor Hollows notified me of the victim's identity I arranged for the responsibility for the autopsy to be transferred to me" I nodded.

"What do we have, besides the obvious?" I asked, Maura indicated the victim's chest.

"Death appears to have come from a thrust by a bladed weapon from the victim's front, the thrust slipped between the ribs and apparently penetrated the heart, death would have followed quickly" I nodded and prompted her to continue.

"Anything else?" Maura, ever the polite hostess, looked to her guests, offering them the chance to speak, one they took up.

"I would surmise the killer is not only right handed, given the knife's trajectory, but also significantly taller than the victim" Kate Murphy noted. "It appears the blade penetrated on a slightly downwards trajectory" Not to be outdone Temperance Brennan spoke up.

"The fact that the blade was thrust in such a way as to pass between the ribs and directly penetrate the heart suggests either luck, which I am not discounting, or more likely significant skill" I frowned for a moment down at the body then looked across to her.

"Why skill?" Brennan shrugged.

"The ability to thrust a blade in, sideways, on a suitable path to directly impact the heart on the first attempt while avoiding entanglement in the rib cage, suggests a level of skill that indicates the assailant was highly experienced" I nodded as I considered that, then followed up with another question.

"A professional killing perhaps?" Maura nodded.

"It may well be, we will perhaps have more once our autopsy is complete" I nodded slowly as she continued. "Would you like to observe Chief?" I looked up and smiled, a little resignedly.

"Normally yes, I could use some peace and quiet right now, unfortunately that's not ever likely to happen on this case so I'll leave you to it" With that I nodded to all three and departed, even as I overheard Kate Murphy's low voiced question behind me.

"Chief Johnson sits in on your autopsies?"

"All members of the Major Crimes team do, from time to time" Maura replied as the door closed behind me, Kate's reply drawing a small smile.

"Wow"

Returning to the murder room I decided to do a circuit of the team, keeping abreast of what they were doing and providing new directions and encouragement.

I found Khan and Mendoza standing side by side at his desk, staring at his computer, Khan drinking his tea and Mendoza her coffee as I joined them.

"Detective's, how goes the search?" The both turned to look at me, Mikki the first to speak.

"Hi Chief, just running a new search now"

"Good morning Chief" Khan said, nodding politely my way.

"A new search?" I asked, getting a response from Khan.

"Unfortunately the first few searches were too broad in their parameters, so we have narrowed them down to a specific age and relationship range, this time discounting anyone outside the 20 and 30 age range or who was married or living at home with their family or with a partner"

"We're looking for people who wouldn't be immediately missed, so we came up with those parameters" Mikki added. I thought about it, noting Mikki's unaccustomed use of the term 'parameter' and held a smile in, Khan's tech expertise was staring to rub off on her, just as I'd hoped. I was left hoping he was picking up her street smarts just as quickly. Refocusing, I nodded slowly, while their search might miss some victims, it should capture most of them.

"That's excellent work, when should we start to see results?" Mikki nodded towards the computer screen as Khan replied.

"We already are" I looked down to see lines of names scrolling up the screen, a lot of lines. I pursed my lips as the implications hit.

"Let me know how many you get, we'll assign additional people to help depending on how many names you turn up" I got a pair of nods and replies.

"Of course Chief"

"Will do Chief"

I wandered on and spoke to the other various sub-teams. Seely Booth was handling the identification of our mysterious Mister Brown, liaising with the various Federal agencies such as the TSA, ATF, the Pentagon and a host of others.

"Nothing so far but I've asked someone in the Jefferson Institute for some help" I nodded slowly, inviting him to continue. "They've scanned the image and subjecting it to anthropological analysis, trying to break down clues to ethnicity, genetic drift, healed injuries, you name it" I pursed my lips in thought, interesting…then spoke.

"An interesting field, I've not heard much of it" He gave me a small smile.

"It's still a bit of a work in progress but anything we can pull together helps" I smiled.

"That it does, thank you so much Agent Booth, would you be kind enough to please let me know if anything turns up" He nodded once.

"Gotcha"

Jane and Ana were standing at a whiteboard, making notes as I wandered over.

"Detectives, where are we on our now-dead cleaner's associates?"

"Hi Chief" said Jane as she turned to face me. "It turns out Hui-Lee didn't have a vast number of friends at work, apparently he kept to himself a bit, a few of his fellow cleaners, a few others, no one admitted to him being a close friend" I nodded, but before I could speak Ana took up the story.

"That said, we did hear that he'd gotten a new friend in the last month, apparently a new starter, one of the porters, a guy named Tony Rivera, everyone we'd spoken to said he was really friendly, happy to chat to anyone, always interested in what people had to say" I nodded slowly, my old CIA experiences coming to the fore.

"Looking for a potentially compromised person with a point of leverage, in this case, our victim's gambling" They both nodded as Jane replied.

"Yeah, anyway he apparently quit last week, so Liv and Kate are down at the Sheraton looking into him" I nodded.

"Good work, it certainly looks like our conspirators knew what they wanted and how to get it, they found an individual they could manipulate who could deliver what they wanted. Let us hope Detectives Benson and Beckett can find something useful" Jane checked the men's watch on her wrist then looked up and spoke.

"We should hear something within the hour"

"Good, please keep me informed" They both nodded as Ana replied,

"Will do Chief"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Medical Examiner's office**

Maura's viewpoint

The knife wound, for such it was, that killed Chen Hui-Lee was determined to be some seven inches in depth, with bruising and lividity on the skin around the wound matching that of a small guard with a large hole above the top of the blade and another, smaller one below the blade. Kate Murphy was summarising our findings.

"We've determined that the blade has a fuller, or groove, down both sides of the blade, combined with the length and the holes machined into the guard above and below the blade, it's almost certain that it's a M9 bayonet, the standard issue weapon of the US army"

"It's designed to attach to the M4, the M4 carbine and the Mossberg combat shotgun, plus it's a perfectly effective general purpose knife and it can double as a wire cutter and saw" Lieutenant Taylor added, then smiled slightly. "I have one of my own from my army days" At our looks he shrugged. "It does a good job of filleting fish" Megan Hunt nodded from the other end of the table.

"Indeed, or filleting hotel employees apparently" Taylor nodded and continued.

"While designed as a military weapon, it's readily available for civilian use at most hunting and army surplus stores" I nodded slowly, a mass-produced weapon such as this was an unlikely starting point but still…

"I agree that while it may be difficult to track down the provenance of the weapon; however anything we can determine will be of help to our colleagues up in Major Crimes" There was a moment of quiet at that, no one wanting to be the one to admit that we were unlikely to turn up anything on the knife, so I turned the discussion to another matter, turning back to Jo Danville.

"Is there anything else Doctor?" Jo nodded.

"There are faint signs of bruising over the lips and cheeks of the victim, if I had to guess, I'd say he was held down with a hand over his mouth, stopping him yelling while he was being knifed" There were thoughtful looks at that, even as Temperance spoke.

"Given the trajectory of the knife blade, it appears that the assailant is much taller than the victim, combined with the strength implied in the bruising, it does suggest the assailant was a male" I shrugged, she was probably right but there were exceptions.

"A strong woman could also do that, for example Detective Sergeant Benson is certainly strong enough to have done so, however on the balance of probability it does seem more likely our suspect was male" There were nods at that before I turned our attention elsewhere. "How is the analysis of the detritus on the victim's body proceeding? Has anything of interest emerged from your work?" I asked Jo Danville. She looked up and nodded as she began explaining her findings.

"Yes, way too much in fact, thanks to him being tossed in the dumpster, a perfect place for contamination" I nodded, as did several others as Jo continued. "That said there was one thing out of the ordinary…" I leaned forward as I noticed others doing so as well. "The body had residual traces of laundry powder on it and the clothes it was wearing"

"Interesting" It was Megan. "Was that within the blood matter or more widespread?"

"Both" Jo stated.

"Have you been able to identify the powder, the brand and type that is?" asked Jordan.

"No, not yet, I mean it could be commercial, equally it could be domestic, I just don't know" Jo responded with a shrug. I saw Professor Langstrom and Catherine Willows exchange a look before the Professor leaned forward.

"We may be in a position to assist you there" I nodded and spoke up.

"Please Professor, anything you have would be welcome" He nodded and sat back as he explained.

"One of my predecessors was of a particularly investigative bent, he conducted research on a number of fields and created a number of catalogues of items, such as the chemical composition and trace elements present in different retail brands of gasoline and such" I nodded slowly, not exactly sure where he was going. "One of those catalogues was a quite exhaustive list of commercial and domestic laundry liquids and powders" Now understanding what he was saying I smiled.

"That is extremely helpful, can I ask you to liaise with Doctor Danville to identify the specific laundry powder" He smiled with a slightly smug demeanour.

"I'm sure something can be arranged" I let one eyebrow rise.

"Arranged?" His smile widened.

"Maintaining that list has been a not inconsiderable amount of work, something like that has value as I'm sure you'd agree" He tipped his head to regard me. "I'm wondering what the people here might have in way of trade?" I sat back, wondering what in heaven's name he meant, trade? He was withholding potentially useful information. I opened my mouth to reprimand him when I was beaten to the punch, Stella Bonasera speaking up.

"A trade eh?" She sat back, making a gesture with her hand. "I hope this database of yours is worth it" Catherine nodded.

"It is" Stella nodded as I watched them, holding my tongue for a moment as Stella replied.

"I don't suppose that given you're in land-locked Las Vegas that a database of every paint used by every boat manufacturer selling recreational or commercial boats here in the states would be of any interest?"

"Regrettably not, that would be well-nigh useless to us" Ray said.

"I wouldn't go that far" It was Horatio Caine. "I'm pretty sure that something like that might be useful in Miami" Stella nodded and spoke up.

"And in return?" Caine smiled carefully before replying.

"How about a registry of cocaine, we've spent a lot of time isolating and cross-matching strains of coke to the point that we can identify specific growing areas, and in some cases specific plantations" I tipped my head to regard him, appreciating the work that had gone into such a registry. Stella nodded.

"That looks like it might be real useful" She smiled. "Deal" Kate spoke up.

"I'd be interested in that as well, we're seeing more cocaine arriving on the streets back home, so I'd be happy to see that database too" Stella smiled.

"I believe the expression is 'ante up' Doctor" Kate sat back and exchanged a glance with Megan, a rapid and silent conversation ensued before Megan turned to Stella.

"How about a comprehensive plant toxin register then, everything from Belladonna to pitcher plant venom?" She smiled. "Over nine thousand toxins" I saw brows furrow and lips purse around the table, even as my fingers itched to gain access to that database, it would very helpful and from what I had seen of both Megan and Kate's work, it would be quite exhaustive. While the…'bargaining' going on was somewhat…unseemly, I noticed the interest and smiles around the table and decided to remain quiet as I watched the interactions with fascination. Megan's smile widened. "Raise you" There was a moment of silence before Stella nodded.

"You've got a deal" She looked to Professor Langstrom. "Have we got a deal?" Before Ray could speak another voice spoke up, one I hadn't expected.

"I too have something to trade" It was Temperance Brennan as heads turned towards her.

"Oh?" Ray Langstrom asked. Temperance leaned forward.

"The Institute has compiled an exhaustive registry of snake venoms, one that I would be willing to put on the table" Mac Taylor glanced at Jo Danville who leaned forward to look down the table at Temperance.

"How 'exhaustive' are we talking about here?"

"Every venomous snake ever recorded as having killed a human, anywhere, it is a complete global database of venom" There was silence around the table for a second as I saw eyes glaze over for a moment, they were all thinking exactly the same as I, ' _I have to have that registry_ '. Mac and Jo exchanged a nod and she turned to look up the table and spoke.

"For access to that we're happy to swap our database of tyres, every tyre and car or truck combo sold in the States for the last eleven years, all cross-referenced with the paint colours of each corresponding model of vehicle those tyres were sold with, also going back eleven years" Temperance wasted no time.

"We have a deal" I shook my head.

"As amusing as this is, I believe that all the databases should be shared with all the teams present, we can all benefit from the information sharing exercise" I held up my hand to forestall any comments and continued. "To ensure that we are all contributing, I have two items to add to the collection" I looked over to where Jordan was sitting quietly. "On behalf of Doctor Cavanagh, Massachusetts is willing to offer a database of rope, sorted by material, diameter, weave and composition, based on over 3,500 samples" Jordan coughed slightly and spoke up, a little sheepishly.

"I'm afraid I don't have access to that database Doctor" I smiled, happy to put her at ease.

"I however do, I compiled it after all and retained a copy when I relocated, consider it a gift" She smiled and nodded.

"Thank you" I returned her smile then looked around the table. "Los Angeles, on the other hand, is able to contribute a database of Yakuza Irezumi tattoo's, sorted by age, style, body location and individual Yakuza organisation styles and motifs" I saw a couple of nods at my offering.

"I believe that while not all of these databases are of equal interest to every organisation, as a whole, they are more than valuable" I looked around the table, meeting everyone's gaze as I exerted a level of authority over the team. "Is it so agreed?" There was a short silence before I got nods and agreement from everyone, leaving me to smile happily, relieved that no one had challenged my decision.

"Excellent" I looked to Ray Langstrom. "Professor, as you were kind enough to offer your database first, I would ask you to coordinate everyone's contribution and the distribution of the combined results to everyone" He nodded.

"Of course" I smiled.

"And if you could share the results of your database of laundry powder with Doctor Danville, that would be greatly appreciated" He nodded as Temperance spoke up.

"If I may?" I nodded. "The information we are going to be sharing is very valuable, and will aid in helping solve a great many cases, however it will only be a valuable resource if it is kept up to date"

"Makes sense" Kate said as a number of others around the table nodded in agreement.

"I propose that we establish a central repository on the Jeffersonian Institute's server, one that is accessible to each of the organisations around this table. As new information is received the databases are updated, making sure the information contained within the server remains current and useful"

"This would just be available to us?" Horatio Caine asked. Temperance nodded.

"As our organisations have created and handed over the information that would be appropriate" There were nods around the table as it was considered.

"Sounds good to me" said Mac Taylor. Ray Langstrom nodded then spoke up.

"Perhaps we may wish to agree, tentatively, that if another organisation wishes to join this database, that the 'entry fee' if you will, would be a database of knowledge, similar to the ones that we have all contributed today, with agreement to be put to a vote of the organisations represented around this table" I nodded as Caine jumped back in.

"That's pretty reasonable actually, we kicked this off, we should be involved in how far it spreads" I saw nods around the table and smiled.

"I believe your suggestion has merit Professor, so we should adopt that" I glanced around the table and nodded, even as I kept my excitement under control, a vast new database of information had just become available, the implications for cases into the future was incredible… With effort I reigned in my thoughts and looked to Jo. "Could I ask you to liaise with Professor Langstrom regarding the provenance of the laundry powder and report back at the earliest opportunity?"

"Of course" With that I called the meeting to a close and watched as Jo and Ray Langstrom left, while the others clustered around Temperance, working out how best to effect the information transfer, making me smile, this meeting had borne unexpected but exciting fruit.

Today had been a good day.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

Today had turned out to be a bad day.

Not only had we lost our main suspect, Chen Hui-Lee, but fate had not finished delivering the bad news. I was standing looking at the whiteboard, covered in Kate's neat handwriting, taking it all in when I heard Flynn on the phone.

"When…where…how did it…okay, we're on it" He put the phone down and looked round, seeing me there watching him. "Just got a call, that bookie, the one we brought in…" I nodded, seeing others do the same as conversation ceased around the room. Mister Kennett had been very helpful; his images of the man who'd brought Chen Hui-Lee's debt had been remarkably clear and were now stuck up on the whiteboard while we ran it through law enforcement databases nationwide looking for a facial recognition match. Andy continued, the set of his face telling me it was bad news.

"Apparently someone wanted him dead, like real dead. He was on the way back to his office from the track, a van pulled up next to them at a red light three blocks from his home office, the side door opened and Kennett's car, well…it was turned into Swiss cheese by a heavy machine gun" I grimaced at his description.

"I take it…?" He nodded.

"Tore the car, Kennett, his driver and his security people to shreds" I nodded grimly then shook that off and started our response.

"Please get the team rolling Lieutenant, the fact that he was killed suggests that he knew more than he let on, or that the people we are dealing with believed he did" I looked around. "Sergeant Benson, could you contact DDA Cabot and kindly request a search warrant for Mister Kennett's home and office, given they are one and the same if you please?" I got a nod and looked round to see Jane walking in with a coffee. "Sergeant Rizzoli, please contact Doctor Isles and let her know that her skills and some of her recently expanded team will be needed on site, talk to Lieutenant Flynn for exact details" I got a nod and she changed course towards Andy as I looked around and spoke to the team as a whole.

"Ladies and gentleman, it would appear that we have just had one lead terminated, something that would fit with what we know of the M.O. of the people we are up against, however perhaps we can open a new lead, so let us relocate to the crime scene and see what we can ascertain"

Several hours later and I led a frustrated team back into the Murder Room; the ambush had been quick and almost military in its precision. Kennett's car had come to stop at a red light, presenting the perfect target when a grubby white van with logos obviously recently over-sprayed with white paint had pulled up alongside, the side door slid open and hosed the vehicle down with what appeared to be a heavy machine gun, the bullets more than capable of penetrating the armour of the Suburban, it had not been designed to stop pistol and submachine gun fire, not the heavy firepower that had been directed at it. The whole attack had been over in less than 20 seconds but that had been enough to reduce Kennett's Suburban and the vehicle's unfortunate occupants to a riddled mess.

Even worse, Provenza, backed up by Hoyt and Bonasera, had collected a warrant, only to arrive at Kennett's office to find the LAFD busy trying to contain a raging blaze, apparently a witness had spotted a nondescript white Toyota hatch pull up in the alley behind the building, a dark-skinned male get out, casually light not one but two Molotov Cocktails, throwing them in through the upper rear windows before getting back into his car and driving off.

The staff inside had fled but given the building was well on its way to becoming a smouldering pyre whatever secrets had resided within that building had almost certainly died with their owner, leaving me with a very frustrated team, something I was mindful of.

"Coffee's everyone and we will reconvene" Twenty minutes later and we had gathered around a relatively clean whiteboard. "Let us concentrate on the positives for a moment if we will" I got a lot of interested and somewhat sceptical looks at that let me tell you. "The fact that they resorted to something so overt to someone we had so recently had in to talk to us suggests that Kennett knew something that the people we are attempting to get a lead on did not want found" I shrugged. "That in itself is a lead"

"Maybe they didn't know he'd passed over the photo's…" Bonasera nodded towards the whiteboard and its images of 'Mr Brown' the continued. "Maybe they thought killing him could stop Kennett helping us identify him" I nodded as Hoyt spoke up, his accent noticeable.

"Makes sense, far as we know he was the only person alive who could tie Brown to the hotel's cleaner and now he's dead, another loose end tied off"

"With a goddamned heavy machine gun to boot" Caine interjected. "According to some of the casings we recovered it was a .50 calibre, you don't buy them at gun stores" Taylor nodded.

"Another example of military weapons in play, first explosives, then the knife used to kill Chen Hui-Lee, then this" Andy looked over at him.

"You think we're looking at current or ex-military here?" At that question Taylor shrugged.

"Could be" I nodded and spoke up as I looked to where Caine and Taylor were sitting next to each other.

"Could I ask you to please brief Special Agent Romanov in on that Lieutenant's; she can raise that with her Pentagon contacts as well" Taylor nodded.

"You got it Chief"

 **Los Angeles The Sheraton Hotel**

Olivia's viewpoint

"May we have a copy of that image please" Kate asked as I looked at the staff sheet for our potential inside guy, Tony Rivera. The lady from the Sheraton's HR department frowned.

"That's the only one I have, but I can scan it at high resolution and send it to you via email" I nodded and replied.

"That would work" I notice you don't keep fingerprints of your employees…"

"Oh no, that would be an invasion of their privacy!" the woman, Chloe Librando, stated in a shocked tone, leaving me to exchange a look with Kate who took up the questioning.

"Do you have anything that he may have touched that no one's really touched since?" She thought about it and shrugged.

"Only his offboarding paperwork" Kate and I exchanged a look before she asked the question.

"Offboarding?"

"Oh yes, when someone starts with us they are processed through onboarding and when they depart they are offboarded" She smiled. "It's less emotionally distressing than words like hired, fired, retrenched, let go and such, far more empowering" With effort I didn't roll my eyes, noticing Kate's mouth quirk up at one side as she held her snicker in at that…' _empowering_ '…right. Instead I nodded.

"Of course, may we see his 'offboarding' paperwork please" As she turned away Kate looked at me and raised both eyebrows in a look that spoke volumes. A few seconds later the woman was back with a green folder in her hands.

"I have it here" She went to open the folder but Kate pushed it back closed as I explained.

"We will need to check for fingerprints, how many people would have handled the paperwork?"

"Just me, well and Mister Rivera of course" I smiled.

"Excellent, thank you for your help Miss Librando, we'll get the papers scanned for fingerprints and returned to you as soon as we can" She frowned and clamped down on the folder.

"They're not supposed to leave the office, privacy concerns say so" Kate shook her head slowly and spoke.

"Given he is a suspect in two deaths here in this hotel, I don't think that matters quite so much"

"But company rules say…" I cut her off.

"Miss Librando, I'd rather do this with your cooperation, something we can pass onto the head of security and your hotel's management, however if we need to we will get a warrant, and we will have to explain to your bosses why we aren't getting the full cooperation we were promised, and when the warrant arrives, we'll get that file anyway" I shrugged. "I'm sure like us, you'd rather do that thee easy way" After a few seconds thought she reluctantly folded.

"I suppose it would be okay, given everything" I smiled as Kate took the file from her unresisting hands.

"Thank you, we'll get it back to you as soon as we can" I said.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint I looked up as Detective Hoyt knocked on the door.

"Got a moment ma'am?" I nodded.

"Please come in detective" He did and sat down. "What can I do for you?" He reached out and passed over a folder.

"I just got that from the traffic guys, it's the van that was used in the Kennett drive-by" I smiled.

"Excellent work detective!" He smiled and went all 'aw shucks' on me as I found the incongruences between his Massachusetts home and his western demeanour amusing all over again.

"It was the folks in the traffic centre who did all the work" I nodded and flipped it open, seeing a dirty white van caught in the image. Looking up I spoke.

"We're certain this is the vehicle?"

"Certainly looks like it ma'am, matches the description and it was apparently called in stolen this morning, at least according to the owner" I nodded, interesting.

"This morning you say?" He nodded.

"Yes ma'am, the owner, a John Phillips, runs a plumbing business here in Los Angeles, called it in about 11 this morning, a few hours before the attack" As I thought that through he continued. "There is one thing though…" I looked up.

"Yes detective?"

"That was the only shot of the vehicle, and apparently that camera's only been installed there for a couple of days, not long enough for most people to notice" I nodded, realising he was going somewhere.

"Go on please" I coaxed, getting a nod.

"That van got five blocks away before that shot was taken, the ones that should have got it were suffering 'malfunctions' at the time" I pursed my lips as he continued. "It also avoided pretty much every other camera in the area"

"Malfunctions?" At my question he nodded.

"Yeah, I've asked the traffic guys to take a look at those camera's, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess most of them have been 'malfunctioned', either with a hammer or maybe spray paint, in the last day or so" I sat back and nodded slowly.

"Detective, please work with Lieutenant Provenza, please have a chat to this van owner and confirm his story, and please keep on that malfunctioning camera's angle, I'm suspecting you're right, and this was a lot more carefully planned that it first appeared" He stood and nodded.

"Yes ma'am" I smiled happily.

"Off with you then"

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

"There's good news and bad news" Wynter frowned at Simmonds' words. They were sitting on the balcony overlooking the Pacific; it was just the two of them, Wynter's bodyguards elsewhere in the house right now.

"Too damned much bad news lately" Simmonds though didn't answer, letting him complain he supposed. Wynter pulled a face and continued "Okay, great, what happened?"

"The bookie is dead; we hosed him at a red light" Wynter nodded decisively.

"Good, a bit loud though but at least he's dead, there's a but though isn't there…"

"Got a call from John Phillips, the cops are chasing the van" Simmonds stated, causing Wynter to frown then ask a question.

"He reported it as stolen didn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's a little spooked that the cops are talking to him about multiple murders" Simmonds paused then continued. "We got the van off him because we could have enough time to modify it to mount that ma deuce, and he'd call it in too late for the cops to know what to look for"

"Makes sense" Wynter stated as Simmonds nodded.

"Yeah, but he was a bit panicky about being peripherally involved in multiple murders" Simmonds grimaced. "I know I chose him, but now I think I misjudged the man, he's not up to it, civilian life's changed him, made him soft, he's not the man we knew back in the sandpit anymore" Wynter's face tightened at the implications even as Simmonds continued. "I don't think he's reliable under any sort of serious pressure"

"That could be a problem" Despite Wynter's concern Simmonds was confident.

"Doesn't matter if the cops arrest him or not, we can get to him"

"Either way he's a loose end that ties to you" Wynter stated. "I'll leave it to you as to how you deal with him"

Simmonds nodded, as both men mentally moved Phillips from the associate column to the liability one, condemning him to death, just like that.

"Got it; I'll let you know when it's taken care of" Wynter frowned darkly before speaking.

"I'm concerned how quickly the cops have moved on this" Simmonds words justified his concerns.

"Yeah, me too, but we're up against their varsity team, this Johnson woman, I looked into her and her team. Gay or not, they're basically the local cop's heavy hitters, they get the difficult cases and more often than not close them" There was a pause. "They're moving faster than we anticipated. We may have to try and get them to back off" Wynter ran his hand through the slight stubble on his chin, thinking that through before replying.

"How exactly do you propose doing that?"

"Give them a bloody nose, make them pull back, giving us enough time to cover our tracks so well no one will ever find anything" Wynter frowned, that was a hell of an escalation if Simmonds was suggesting what he thought.

"What are you proposing?" Simmonds was unconcerned.

"Take Johnson out of the game, with her gone that'll mess up their investigation" he stated confidently as Wynter's frown deepened, messy and risky, if they were to do it…

"It'd have to be completely deniable, out of town assets that are expendable" Simmonds nodded in response.

"I know a crew that do wet work for the Columbian cartels" he said. "They don't care if its cops they're hosing, god knows they've killed enough already down South and if the money's good enough they'll do it here in LA" Wynter thought about it for a moment then made up his mind

"We'll keep that as a last resort; the cops are moving fast already, an attack on them will just make them look even harder" Simmonds looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded.

'Okay, it's your call but just give it some thought, in the meantime I'll take care of Phillips" Wynter nodded once.

"Do so" Danny Wynter shook his head as he picked up his scotch, looking over at Simmonds. "This op has turned out to be more trouble than it was worth"

"Sorry man" They exchanged a look then nodded.


	58. Chapter 58

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **58 Bad News**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Kate's viewpoint

We'd been busy grinding away; I'd dragged Liv and Jane into an impromptu team as we tried to pull together some sort of idea of the size and scope organisation we were up against. We'd been at it for most of yesterday and this morning, coming to the conclusion they were big, wealthy and complex, when Sharon Raydor had wandered in at one point to talk to Brenda, finding her busy talking to the missing persons search team, she'd walked over and joined us as we reviewed what we had.

"Figure that it was set up by a couple of people, a small group at most; I mean it had to be small at first to preserve security…" Liv stated as Sharon nodded then replied.

"From what Brenda has told me they take their operational security very seriously" I pulled a face at that comment, remembering everything I'd heard, all the trails that had led to dead bodies.

"You're not wrong there. Anyway, assume they started in one part of the country; say New York or Miami, they had to find customers and then set up their kidnapping system…" I tapped the whiteboard. "We're calling that section collections for the sake of brevity" She nodded and I kept going. "Once selected they drug them and hand them to over to logistics…" I tapped another heading. "…who handle the transport of the victims to the destination city" Sharon nodded.

"So far so clear, go on"

"We're assuming two or three people in each collection team, to lease the offices, handle the admins and the advertising, schedule interviews and then do them, contact the organisation if they find a suitable victim, get the go ahead and kidnap the victim" I shook my head then continued. "It has to be quick; most of the missing persons were abducted on the first meeting" Sharon nodded then tipped her head to regard the board, speaking slowly as she thought it through.

"So they must have a way of matching the customer with the victim, perhaps a pre-existing list of criteria that a customer has specified maybe?" Sharon suggested, getting nods from us.

"That's what we think too" Jane said. I nodded and looked to Liv; she'd been working on delivery and she took up the tale.

"Once collected and transported to the customer's city we assume that the system used in Seattle is the common one, hand the victims to local middle men who deliver them to an agreed point where the middle men's payment is waiting, the middle men take their money and leave the victim, the buyer arrives and collects the victim and takes them away for whatever purpose they have in mind" Liv grimaced. "I'm still not sure if they use the same location and team in each city or a different crew and location for each customer" Sharon nodded.

"Or possibly they use the same team and different locations depending on the customer?" Liv nodded at Sharon's comment.

"Yeah, too many variables and not enough answers" She tapped the board near Seattle. "We're chasing up the middle men in Seattle to see what they can tell us" I nodded and took charge of the discussion.

"So we have collections and transport kinda figured out in a general way, but it's getting to the buyers in the first place and connecting the buyer with the victim that we've been having issues with" I shrugged. "We've come to the conclusion that it's been built up through contacts on the deep web, dark web, whatever" I shook my head. "Someplace that's the hell away from any sniff of law enforcement, off in the lawless, uncharted parts of the web" Sharon tipped her head to regard the board and spoke.

"So deep there's been almost nothing appear anywhere about their operations" Jane nodded and took over.

"Yeah, talking to Caine and the others suggests that the Bureau finding those videos in the deep web was really a fluke, the people hosting them had security that really wasn't up to the job, something we've agreed doesn't seem to be this organisation's M.O." Jane shook her head slowly. "They're too careful for that sort of mistake" Sharon nodded at that then spoke.

"So it would seem, especially from the efforts they've undertaken to stay under the radar and avoid any scrutiny or attention" Liv nodded.

"Yeah, ruthless bastards" She frowned. "Every time the local cops have got a sniff of a lead that lead's ended up dead, same as we've seen here" I jumped back into the discussion.

"So what we don't have much of a handle on is what lies behind it. We're assuming a small group got it started but now, how large are they, how many people running it, what do each of them do?" I looked to Sharon. "We're speculating" She looked around and then moved across and leaned back against the nearest desk, Flynn's as it turned out and nodded slowly, crossing her arms as she looked at the white board.

"So speculate" she directed. I looked at the others and then pushed off.

"So we've sort of identified collections and logistics and we believe they subcontract delivery to locals" She glanced at me then back to the whiteboard as she nodded. "There has to be some system in place to connect the victims to the trucks, given we believe it's their preferred method of transport" I shrugged. "After all there are millions of semis on the road all over America, no one looks twice at them" Sharon nodded again.

"As anonymous as possible" she said, drawing a nod and a reply from Jane.

"Yeah, even if the cops started looking for them, it's the proverbial needle in a haystack" I picked it up again.

"Then there's finance. We're talking a lot of money here" Sharon frowned.

"How much does an attractive young man or woman sell for? Who would even know?" Liv handled that one.

"I placed a call into to Vice back in NYC, once they got over their disbelief they guess maybe two hundred to two fifty thousand dollars, maybe more for someone as attractive as the victim's we've identified" Sharon's face went white as her head swung to face Liv.

"Oh my god, I had no idea we were talking that sort of money" she said, unknowingly mimicking the exact reaction Jane and I had when we heard. Liv shook her head.

"To literally purchase and own a gorgeous man or woman for something unspeakable, to be forced to do things far beyond what even a desperate prostitute would do, yeah, people would pay that sort of money to own them and have that level of control" Sharon looked a little sick to be honest, that legendary Raydor calm I'd heard about wavering a bit though I have to confess, I'd had a similar reaction to Sharon's when I'd first heard it too. Jane nodded slowly then spoke.

"Yeah, that sort of money buys a lot of capability, people to collect the victims, people to knowingly transport them across state lines, pass them on to other people for onward delivery, people to deliver the victim to the end buyer, plus pay for all the organisation and return a profit to the people on top of the organisation" Recovering her composure Sharon spoke.

"I have dealt with evil people…" She looked around us all. "But this is evil on a scale I've never encountered before" Jane nodded slowly.

"Yeah, it makes the Irish mobs look like rank amateurs" Liv shook her head slowly.

"The big drug cartels maybe, but this is home-grown, or at least we think it is, and they deliver nothing but misery and evil" There was a grim silence following that comment, lasting until Brenda's voice was heard.

"Ladies and gentlemen, would you be kind enough to give me your attention please?" I smiled a little at that; Brenda was so polite, especially compared to Captain Gates back at the 12th Precinct, there were a lot of adjectives to describe 'Iron' Gates, but polite…not exactly top of the list. All conversation stopped as Brenda walked into the centre of the room, for a small person Brenda had a hell of a 'Command Presence' when she chose to use it. I noted she was being followed by Duquesne and Hoyt plus Khan, Mendoza and Provenza from her own team; they'd been on the missing person hunt. Brenda walked to one end of the room and turned in front of a somewhat empty whiteboard.

"I know you're all busy but we…" She waved to the others following her. "…have discovered something disconcerting" I frowned; from what I'd seen Brenda was given to understatement, what she called disconcerting others might call a disaster. "The team working on the missing person's reports have done a fantastic job, Detective Khan's computer skills have identified missing persons who fit the description we have set. Those results were then reviewed by the rest of the team who followed up on likely victims directly with the appropriate local law enforcement agencies" There were nods around the room at that.

"They have managed to identify two things of importance, the first is how long the operations of this organisation have been underway" She turned and grabbed a whiteboard marker. "Based on the oldest cases where the M.O. matches that of the people we are up against, we are looking at a minimum of six or seven years in operation" There was a sudden low buzz of conversation in the room as Brenda turned and wrote ' _7+ years_ ' in big bold strokes on the whiteboard, then turned back to face us. "I must stress that this is as far back as we have confirmed their M.O." She shrugged. "There are a number of cases going back even further where information is still being confirmed, but at least seven years people" She half turned and nodded at the four detectives standing there. "I wish to note that we have this information due to the hard work of the team who have done the digging, well done people" There were respectful nods all around the room, that sort of work was a hard grind, especially ringing the relevant agencies all over the country and chasing down the individual detectives who'd dealt with the case, often years ago. Brenda turned back to face us.

"That said, we have a second piece of information that has been compiled by the team, one that is not only shocking but which underscores the importance of what we are doing here" She shook her head then continued. "Based on the hard work of the team and some educated guesswork, it appears that in the last seven years more than 1500 people have gone missing, almost certainly at the hands of this organisation" There was deathly silence at that, the number echoing around in everyone's heads, you could see the shock on everyone's face. Brenda gave us a moment for that to soak in before turning and writing ' _1500+_ ' in equally bold lettering next to the ' _7+ years_ ' before turning back to face us.

"The activities of this group have been ramping up year by year, seven years ago it was one or perhaps two a week, last year it was five or six or sometimes seven a week" She shook her head. "The activities of this group, this organisation, this…"

"Cabal" It was Sharon, speaking quietly but clearly, getting a nod from Brenda.

"This Cabal, yes thank you Commander, a good name, this Cabal is beyond horrific; it has destroyed families, resulted in untold suffering and no doubt enriched the people running this beyond measure. We were committed to stopping them, given the attacks on our fellow officers…" She threw a glance and a nod at Caine and Taylor standing off to one side. "Now though we know the scope of the true evil we are up against and the number of victims we are working to find and recover"

"Or avenge" It was Caine.

No one had much to add after that.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Morgue**

I was reading the report that Jo Danville had compiled, thanks to the database compiled by our Las Vegas colleagues, she had been able to identify the laundry powder as being a commercial, non-retail brand, one typically used by large commercial dry cleaners. She had contacted the manufacturer and had obtained a list of wholesalers in the Los Angeles area who sold that particular brand and fragrance. I was preparing to deliver it to Major Crimes when I looked up at a knock to find Megan and Kate standing in my door.

"Doctors" I smiled. "Please come in"

"Hi Maura" Megan said, even as I noted that Kate was carrying a ubiquitous manila folder. "We scanned the suspect's prints off that paperwork from the Sheraton and finally got a hit" I smiled.

"That is good news, what have you discovered" They sat and Kate took up the story

"The Sheraton's Tony Rivera is actually Mark Rhodes" She shrugged as she retrieved a document from the folder and handed it across even as she summarised what was there. "We pulled a partial on the thumb and two partials, middle finger and ring finger" I nodded as she continued. "We were able to get a match on the ring finger from an Alabama database, the suspect was booked for a DUI back in 1996 under the name of Rhodes" I frowned, the way she had said that…

"Please go on" Kate pulled a face and looked to Megan.

"Not long after, we got a match for all three fingers from the Austin PD in Texas, the same individual was booked for drunk and disorderly in 1998, also under the name of Murphy" Megan too pulled a face before continuing. "We were all set to wrap up when we got a matching full set from the NYPD dated 2015, only in that case the identification was for a Pete Sheridan, who was arrested for carrying an unlicensed pistol" She shrugged. "He claimed he was a Texas resident and was used to carrying a pistol to feel safe as he described it. NYPD confiscated the weapon and the suspect was bailed to appear in court but naturally never showed" I nodded as I replied.

"Naturally, do we have booking images?" The both nodded as Kate opened the folder and carefully laid three images side by side, definitely the same man, though in one of them he had a split lip, the beginning of an occluded right eye and several other injuries to his face I would characterise as typical of injuries received in a fist fight

"Do we know what his actual name is?" I asked; they glanced at each other before Megan answered.

"It was Mark Rhodes, only he's been reported as deceased" I nodded slowly then spoke.

"Mister Rhodes seems rather recently active for a one reportedly deceased" I glanced at them. "When and where was he reported as deceased?" Kate answered that.

"In Iraq in 2011" She looked at Megan as she continued. "Working for an organisation called Executive Options" Megan nodded and continued the story.

"I did a quick check, apparently they're a private security and logistics contracting firm, they apparently had a number of contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, they're not in business anymore, but he was working for them when he was reported killed" I smiled.

"Wonderful work Megan, Kate, thank you, let us head upstairs and you can brief Chief Johnson, with our colleague's existing leads apparently being killed off, they will be very happy to have another lead delivered to them"

With that we gathered up the images and other paperwork and headed up to Major Crimes, where they were indeed pleased to see us and even more with what we had to report.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Gymnasium**

Kate's viewpoint

The rest of the day had been frustrating, we now knew what our adversary, the Cabal, had done, but we still knew almost nothing of whom and what they were really. In the end, as the day drew to a close, Jane and Liv grabbed me and we'd made our way to one of the Parker Centre's lower levels, below street level but apparently above the morgue and the armoury, I'd followed them through a glass door marked 'Gym – LAPD Personnel Only' and into the female change rooms where Jane opened a locker and dug out some shorts and a sports top, handing them across.

"Here, don't worry, they're fresh and clean" I looked at the clothes in my hand and then looked back at her, seeing the others starting to strip off as Liv looked over at me.

"C'mon Kate, I can tell it's starting to get to you, so we're gonna blow some steam off" I was about to say something when Ana breezed in, already apologising.

"Sorry I'm late" She headed straight to a locker and started pulling clothes out with one hand, even as she was unbuttoning her light blue Oxford with the other. Liv tilted her head to regard me.

"This way we get to work up a sweat and work some of that tension out at the same time, so get changed" Realising she was right and that I really needed to work off some stress I quickly stripped off, sneaking looks at the others as I did, surprised at what I was seeing. I'd already seen Liv's impressively awesome physique when Alex and her had come up to Castle's Hampton House for a weekend and hit the pool, but casting my eyes over the other two I was suffering from a small but noticeable feeling of inadequacy, I'm in very good shape, I work out enough to make sure of it and Castle is not-so-quietly appreciative of my body and the shape it's in but both Jane and Ana were obviously in better than good shape, stripping off the work clothes that normally hid their bodies the musculature and definition coming into view was a real surprise. Both of them were not just fit, but obviously shared a commitment to exercise that was as admirable as it was impressive. I hadn't really been looking at the pool party or at the club, but here it was as unavoidable as it was unmistakable. There wasn't much fat on either of their bodies, what little there was smoothed their curves but the tight abs and defined calves, plus the smooth play of muscles under their skin, testified to a hard regimen of workouts.

One thing I noticed was that under their shirts and polo's and blouses all three were each wearing an identical necklace, a gold pendant, shaped like some kind of animal, as I watched Ana lifted hers over her head and then placed a fleeting kiss to the pendant before tucking it away in her locker together with her gun. I looked to Liv to see her lifting hers off and caught her eye, lifting an eyebrow in question as I tilted my head, she understood immediately, holding it out for me to see.

"It's an Asian temple guardian, a Chindit, Nat got them for us on their honeymoon, it apparently symbolises ferocity and bravery in defending its charge" She smiled. "She said that it was a perfect symbol for each of us, that we protect them" I nodded as I reached out and held the pendant, turning it back and forward as I slowly examined the intricate workmanship, the dog-like thing was all teeth and claws with deep green eyes, jade probably, too deep for emerald, appreciating the sentiment and love that had gone into such a gift before gently handing it back. Seeing the others watching, I let it go and played it off.

"Ugly dog, I can see why she picked it for you" I got a playful shove from Liv and the finger from Ana while Jane just smiled knowingly.

Heading out onto the gym floor we worked together to drag a double layer of gym mats together before doing some stretching and limbering exercises, then watching Jane and Ana start with some light workouts and stretches before moving into gentle sparring, enough to tell me they both knew what they were doing. Before they went too far Jane called a halt and wandered off with Ana, coming back with four sets of protective gear, handing a set to Liv and I before they donned theirs and headed back out onto the mat. I noticed a number of cops watching, one of whom was stupid enough to make a comment to his buddy that Jane must have heard, as she turned and faced him.

"Hey you…what's your name anyway?" The cop looked a little cowed to have been overheard but unwilling to give ground in front of his buddies straightened up and spoke up.

"Anderson" Jane's glare was set on low burn as she regarded him then spoke.

"Look Anderson, either shut your trap or step out here and put your body where your mouth is" she shrugged. "Your choice" He shook his head emphatically.

"No way am I getting out there with you two crazy bitches" Jane shook her head, a little contemptuously and she regarded him.

"Then shut the hell up before I shut you up, capisce?" Getting no response she turned and moved back to the mats where she squared off against Ana. I watched as they started circling, then Jane went for a leg strike, taking advantage of her longer leg length, she was fast and had good technique, my kick boxing instructor would have nodded in grudging respect, something it had taken me a couple of years to achieve.

As I watched them spar it became more obvious that both were dangerous, Jane and Ana fought with an increasing ferocity, their strikes and counters getting faster and faster; eventually they weren't holding back, I could tell they were going at it damned hard, enough so I wasn't sure I wanted to go up against either of them seriously. As we watched it had gone from warm ups to sparring to fighting to brutal brawling, beautiful in its intensity and frightening in its ferocity. As they leapt apart and started circling again I leaned over to Liv and spoke quietly.

"Did you know they were like that?" Liv shook her head as she replied equally quietly.

"Not really, I knew they exercised but I didn't realise just how much until I got out here, they've been sparring like that ever since they both moved out here, plus they've had a few incidents that showed them just how useful it'd be, so they've kept at it, you're looking at well over a year of really hard training, pretty much every day actually" I nodded.

"Now I know why that cop backed down" Liv's chuckle was low and dirty.

"Yeah, I've heard the story's, a few guys apparently tried it on when they started up, looking at making a move on them but after the first few beatings most people backed off" I tipped my head to watch as Ana almost got a lightning fast block / strike combo past Jane's guard, then spoke.

"I can see why" As we watched the two women closed for a strike / block / sweep combo that didn't go anywhere, to my eye they'd sparred often enough that they pretty much knew what to watch for and react to, they bounced back out of strike range and Jane held up her hand, stopping them, Ana nodded and spoke up, gasping a bit, hardly surprising really, they'd been hard at it for almost two minutes.

"Rock, paper scissors?" She got a nod and they did it, the first was a draw, the second Ana won so she wandered off to the gear pile and came back with a bowie knife in her hand, to my eyes it looked like the blade had been dulled a bit but the point was still there, only marginally less dangerous, in the way a King Cobra or a Rattlesnake were slightly less dangerous than a Taipan, all in all just a matter of degree. Jane took up a stance and made a Neo-like beckoning motion, Ana giving a quick smile before tossing the knife in her hand to get it better settled, blade up, thumb against the guard, then dropped into a stance as they started circling each other, I took one look at Ana and decided that if I found myself facing someone that practised-looking with a knife in her hand I'd be reaching for a Taser, a baton or my gun.

Jane went to strike, only to have Ana react, her knife slashing up towards Jane's throat, only to be parried as Jane stepped to one side and went for a side strike at Ana's ribs that she escaped by sidling off to one side and using her left hand to parry. I noted that their floor show had an audience; at least a dozen cops had stopped and were watching, some for the entertainment value probably, more though were watching with the attentiveness of someone wanting to learn from the more skilled. They went at it for close to a minute, innumerable slashes, lunges, parries and blocks, the skill and training on both sides evident before Ana called a halt, both women gasping hard from the exertion, stepping back they nodded and walked over to where we were, both picking up water bottles and taking swigs before they spoke.

"Oh man, that feels good" said Jane, getting a nod from Ana.

"Good, hard training; who in hell needs gym time when you have this?" Liv though shook her head.

"All the right moves don't mean shit if you don't have the strength to back it up" I saw her get a resigned look from Ana and a retort from Jane.

"Says the iron pumping monster…" Jane trailed off as I buried a smile when Ana looked my way and nodded.

"Why don't you and Kate have a go, then once you're warmed up we can kick your asses" Liv snorted at that.

"As if" Jane waved us towards the mat before taking another swig from her water bottle and turned to regard us, swallowing and speaking up.

"Off you go" Jane said as Liv exchanged a look with me and then led us over to the mats, we spent a minute or so limbering up and stretching before we turned to each other as I spoke up.

"To the first fall or you want to go to the first submission?" Liv gave me a slow, wolfish smile.

"Let's make it third fall or submission, I don't want to end it too fast" I just gave her the finger before I turned and took a step or two back, falling into a comfortable watching stance, ready to react. I'd already realised I had to keep Liv at a distance, she was a lot stronger than me and with the wrestling training she'd been getting if she got her hands on me I'd have no chance.

And I didn't, we sparred for about ten seconds before she rushed me, I swung to one side and snapped a kick to her ribs, only to have Liv wear the kick, taking the opportunity to wrap my leg in her arm, spinning into my leg and getting her other hand on my knee, next thing I'm face-planted into the mats with Liv pinning me and my leg twisted up off the ground where I couldn't get any leverage. I struggled for a few seconds before going limp, acknowledging her win with a word.

"One" She immediately let go and rolled off me as I twisted onto my side and climbed to my feet, my mind running over that move, it'd been so fast I hadn't realised what she was doing until it was too late. I didn't miss that Jane and Ana were watching us like hawks, evaluating eyes taking in every move. I retook a stance as I immediately mentally re-evaluated fighting Liv, there was no way I could prevail if she got her hands on me, her strength and training converted any mistake I made into a winning move for her. I grimaced slightly, realising my best bet was to keep moving and punish her when she struck out at me.

We started again and circled on the mats, Liv making feints and I parried, keeping my distance, she dropped and swept my legs but I saw it coming and stepped back, trying to snap kick her knee or ankle as she did but I just missed. She rolled to her feet again and nodded before we started circling again. I saw her start to move forward and stepped to one side, almost going for a forearm smash but pulling back at the last second, I didn't dare get too close to her, instead I fell to one side and swept her legs, sending her sprawling as I quickly levered myself up and dived on her, grabbing for an arm and trying to twist it up behind her back.

It was a good plan but Liv had other ideas, despite my best efforts she writhed under me as her arm muscles bulged as she started overpowering me, against my full strength she was forcing her arm down and twisting, realising I couldn't hold her I shoved off but her hand lashed out and grabbed my ankle, jerking it out from under me and sending me sprawling. Quick as lightning she was on me and despite my best efforts the result was the same.

"Two" Instantly she let me go and stood, then reaching down and helping me to my feet. I got a grin from her as I shook my head. Then wandered back to give myself some distance, thinking furiously, Liv was used to fighting people like Ana and Jane, people who fought in close and low, lots of forearm strikes and snap kicks, she was familiar with that, I'd need to pull something unexpected out of the box to surprise her. I paused for a moment, remembering something my instructor had taught me, he'd said it was showy and not really useful against someone who was expecting it but Liv hadn't seen it before. I nodded to myself and turned to face her, seeing her drop into the same watchful stance, then beckon me in again. Like hell I was going to play that game again, instead I started circling, seeing her do the same as we closed slowly, I saw the watching cops and then Jane and Ana pass behind Liv as we circled, she went for a lunge but I danced back and smiled.

"Oh no you don't; once was enough" She grinned then leapt forward as I dived to the side. I had a shot but remembering the first loss I didn't take it, instead circling again, watching the play in her torso as I looked for the bunching of muscles to telegraph the move. I got a split second's warning as she lunged but it was enough to show me what I wanted, she had a tell; a small one but obvious if you knew what to look for. I danced back and to my left as she followed me, keeping my eyes glued to her torso even as I realised she was closing. I almost missed it as I blinked but got enough warning as she lunged at me to spring off my left foot and leap as high as I could, my right leg spinning left above her arms, too fast for her to raise them, she'd held them low to grapple me low on my centre of gravity and topple me, instead my heel collected her hard in the left forehead, the padded helmet absorbing the majority of the shock but there was enough inertia transferred to stop her in her tracks and send her stumbling to her hands and knees. Landing careful I took my chance and took two quick steps forward, slamming my heel down, at the last second pulling the force as it came down onto the back of Liv's neck, she stilled as she felt my bare heel on the back of her neck, realising that she'd lost this one.

"One" I stepped back and helped her to her feet and got a nod and a smile.

"Nice move" I shrugged.

"I had to do something" I helped her up and we squared off again, unfortunately she was wise to that trick now and I dared not try it again so the bout ended like the first two, with me pinned on the mat.

Not bad" It was Jane. "I went down three zip the first time against Liv here" Ana nodded.

"Yeah, same here, it took me a while to work out how to put her down without getting wrapped up in those wrestling moves of hers" Ana shrugged. "She's too strong to get away from if she gets you into a hold" Liv shrugged modestly.

"What can I say, muscles, don't leave home without them" She flashed a grin. "Plus Al likes them"

"Always knew Cabot was a muscle bunny" Ana muttered, loud enough to be heard easily, drawing a shit-eating grin from Liv.

"If you got it, flaunt it" she taunted, pulling a bodybuilder's pose and flexing her muscles as she did, I have to say it was an intimidating sight, Jane though wasn't impressed.

"We talking about your muscles or that outsize ego of yours?" said Jane before she turned to me, indicating Liv with a thumb. "Schwarzenegger here was telling us that you're pretty hot with a baton" I nodded; I liked to think so anyway, I'd always been good with it all the way back to academy, I watched as she wandered over to a pile of gear and pulled a standard issue police baton from the pile, turning and tossing it to me. "Want to show me?" I grabbed the baton out of the air and smiled, this was going to be fun.

An hour later we were all sore and tired and ready to call it quits, Jane and Ana were each horribly dangerous in different ways, Ana was faster than Jane, with a knife in her hand she could carve up most opponents in seconds and she had a killer instinct. Jane on the other hand had more strength and longer reach, stronger than Ana and faster than Liv, she was willing to trade some pain for a winning edge, you'd block her and move back only to find she was all over you before you could recover, taking some blown for the ability to get inside your defences and into your face where her Wing Chun moves came into play.

I felt battered and tired but was on an endorphin high, I'd had a lot of fun and learnt some new tricks, enough so that I knew that sparring with these three was going to polish my skills real quick.

Despite all the bad news today that thought made the day just that little bit better.


	59. Chapter 59

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **59 Uninvited Visitors**

Brenda's viewpoint

I was running a quick briefing first thing in the morning, getting everyone focused on the day's tasks. Flynn and Duquesne were talking to the LA customers of the particular brand of laundry powder found on the cleaner's body. We'd already confirmed it wasn't from the hotel given they didn't do their laundry on-site.

Mendoza and Khan were working on chasing down the ads used by the Cabal to attract victims, trying to single out the style so that we could try and head off a few of their operations before they managed to grab anyone else, though quite frankly I didn't hold out much hope. Trying to identify the ads, even finding them in the first place, practically defined a tiny needle in a vast haystack, but Khan had proved he could do things that I didn't understand with the net so it had to be worth a try.

Seely Booth was spreading his net wider in the hunt for Mister Brown, he'd had no luck with domestic agencies so he was looking farther afield, apparently he had a contact at INTERPOL that he was going to talk to, though I didn't hold out much hope given the efforts Brown had obviously put in to cover his tracks.

Provenza and Hoyt were looking into the issue of the 'malfunctioning' surveillance cameras, trying to get a better timeline between the van being stolen and the attack, there was a long gap between both events, long enough for the cameras to have been taken out.

Liv and Kate were chasing down our new suspect Mark Rhodes, he'd apparently gone looking for a weak link, someone they could leverage, found and befriended our hotel cleaner, got what he wanted then vanished, handing him over to the tender mercies of Mister Brown.

Ana was spending the morning talking to her contacts in the military, trying to get a better handle on the explosives that had been used in the bombs, plus was liaising with the Bureau's Behavioural Analysis Unit, trying to work up a profile of the people running the Cabal, even though we didn't have all that much to go on, still, they were the acknowledged experts in the field and who was I to leave any stone unturned?

Jane and Bonasera were working through witness reports from the drive-by, looking for anything but I didn't expect they'd turn up anything, the attack had been too quick and precise, still that was what cops did.

Taylor and Caine had been liaising with the local cops and Bureau office in Seattle, in turn they'd talked to the two guys arrested at the scene of Ana's shoot out and knifing. They'd confirmed that their Mister Johnson, the guy who had originally hired them, was in fact our Mister Brown, tying him ever tighter into the case. That had been four years ago now, so he'd been involved at least that long and probably even longer.

Everyone else was busy with real police work, leaving me to deal with the case's admin, the emails and paperwork, for a moment I wistfully thought back to my days handling cases as one of a team, actually doing real police work, instead of shuffling paperwork and answering emails, I suppose I was overlooking all the drudgery and boredom of that part of an investigation, it was kinda nice to be the one in charge, even if that meant fending off Will Pope and his incessant demands for updates and progress reports.

Unfortunately, until my team here found me someone to interrogate, my most valuable contribution was in giving them direction and keeping Pope and the politicians off their backs, letting do their job so that eventually I could do mine.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Firing Range**

Anna's viewpoint

My cell's ringing and flashing pulled me out of the trance I was in, I was in the zone, loading, sending my targets down range then firing when they flipped broadside on, rinse and repeat. I'd set it for a three second view before they turned sideways again, trying to better my scores. I was considering setting the delay to 2.5 seconds when the call came in, three seconds was way too long for me now.

It wasn't for the Bureau qualifications; I shot way better than most agents, up in the top 5% of the organisation actually; no I was shooting because we were all damned competitive bitches, Jane and Olivia were better than me and that gave them some bragging rights. Plus we'd dragged Kate down here one afternoon earlier this week and she'd been damned good, better than Liv actually and not all that far behind Jane so I had some catching up to do. That was why I came down here when I had a few minutes, working with O'Farrell on technique, though he'd recently all but admitted that I was pretty much flawless on that count now, so it was just practice, practice, practice until I got it perfect, time after time after time. It was paying off, I'd been high-fifties or so when I started in the all-women rankings, I was in the low forties now but that just meant I had a way to go, Jane was in the top ten after all. I pulled off the ear defenders and made the Glock safe before I put it down and answered my cell, seeing Jennifer Jareau's name on the screen.

"Hi JJ"

" _Hi Anna, how are you?_ "

"I'm well thanks, all well at your end?"

" _Not so bad_ " She paused then changed tone. " _We've been looking at your requested profiles_ "

"Thanks for that, what do you think?"

" _Well, we don't have all that much to go on..._ " she hedged, but I jumped on that.

"Don't give me that ass-covering rubbish JJ, you and your people are the best" I got a chuckle before she replied.

" _Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop on that account_ " I smiled.

"Nope, not going to happen" I paused but the range was pretty empty so it was quiet enough to have a conversation. "What's your first cut on the Cabal"

" _We think you're looking at a couple of people, but definitely one leader_ " I nodded at that as she continued. " _Definitely a callous personality, one that probably has little regard for individuals, in your context probably seeing them as marketable commodities at best_ "

"Could be, I mean our latest estimates are that they've been doing this for over 7 years and maybe fifteen hundred plus victims" There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds before she came back, sounding slightly stunned.

" _You can't be serious?_ "

"Dead serious and that's just what we've nailed down so far, it might be worse".

" _How come no one's heard about this before?_ " I shook my head as I replied.

"They have been ruthless in killing off any loose ends JJ, all anyone's had before is dead bodies and leads that go nowhere" She was silent for a second then spoke.

" _Fifteen hundred…?_ " I nodded grimly.

"Yeah, that's our best guess right now, that's only the ones we're pretty sure about, it may be higher"

" _Oh my god, that's horrible_ " I turned and slumped back against the wall behind me, honestly I knew how she felt, this was too large to truly comprehend all in one hit, we were talking hundreds of millions of dollars here made off the misery and suffering of others.

"Yeah, we've finally, maybe, got a lead on them, before now they've been ghosts" I said.

" _Yes…_ " JJ agreed. " _…and that's something we've been chewing on here, we're getting two different profiles, the leader and another, the killer_ "

"Keep going" I coaxed her.

" _The leader profile, he's an organiser, almost the CEO type, he has to be to put something this big together, given the scope you've just outlined we're talking a big business, with the profits and overheads and challenges of a business, he's the builder, the planner and the organiser, he's the driving force behind the Cabal_ " She paused. " _Then there's the killer_ "

"Not the same person?" I asked.

" _No, the CEO has someone to do the clean-up, he's the mind set to get someone else to do that, he'd see his job to be big picture management, not fixing problems at the local level_ " I mulled that over and then prodded JJ.

"So tell me about the killer"

" _Not much so far, we're still looking into that but we're certain he's an intelligent individual who has no issues with killing, it's something that they are comfortable with and quite possibly enjoy, it demonstrates their superiority, not just over the victim but also the police that he thinks he's smarter than_ "

"Yeah, I have a bit more info on that. One of our potential leads, a bookie that had dealt with one of the Cabal's people got killed a few days back. He took his security seriously so the Cabal got to him by pulling up beside him and hosing his vehicle down with a 50 calibre machine gun" There was silence at the other end of the line as I waited, happy to do so. JJ may come off as a bubbly blonde at times and she and Nat had a bit of a strained relationship over some stuff that had happened in the past but she was smart and few were as good as the BAU people at this stuff.

" _That's the killer, he may have been working at the CEO's direction but that's all his handiwork_ " JJ paused then continued. " _He may even have been the one behind the machine gun_ " I nodded as she continued. " _You called them the Cabal, is that what they call themselves?_ "

"No, that's a name we've hung on them, someone here came up with it but it fits"

" _Yeah, it sounds like it_ " she said.

"Can I ask you to drop it into an email and send it to me and I'll share it with the team" I asked, getting an immediate reply.

" _Will do_ " There was a pause. " _Is this something you want the team down there for?_ " I laughed at that before I got myself under control.

"JJ, we wouldn't have room for you" I got a puzzled and slightly hurt tone.

" _What do you mean?_ " Wanting to make amends I quickly gave her some context,

"They went after three CSIs here in LA, all from different cities, that have been looking into their activities" I explained "There was a convention here, LEAFCON, the Law Enforcement And Forensics Convention, all three targets were in town for it, so the place was crawling with cops and forensics experts, right we now have a combined team of both from New York, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Miami, Washington, Boston all here and working on the case with the LAPD's Major Crimes team, its mad, let me tell you" I decided to soothe JJ's ego, she had one. "It's not that we wouldn't welcome you, but we're knee deep in people right now. I promise we'll keep you in the loop and updated as we get any new info" Her response was a lot more her usual self.

" _Ok, well if that changes let me know, for something as big as this I'm sure the team would roll out if you need us_ "

"I appreciate that JJ, I really do, I'll talk it over with the Deputy Chief running the show, it's her call after all"

" _Okay, I'll email my initial findings and we'll talk soon_ "

"That we will; bye JJ"

" _Bye Ana_ "

 **Washington DC Washington Navy Yard**

Leroy Gibbs wasn't having a particularly good day. As leader of one of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service's top teams, he had a full plate, and that was before Ana Romanov had called out of the blue and dropped a ton of shit on his desk.

Not that he blamed her, given the mess she'd uncovered. A large amount of RDX gone missing, supposedly shipped overseas, but used in a couple of bombings in Los Angeles, now potentially a military-grade heavy machine gun used in a drive-by on the streets of LA, it was surely something he should look into.

He called his team in, giving them a quick background briefing and wrapping up with the next steps.

"…and I know it's missing from an Army base, but that doesn't mean we can't look into it quietly" He looked around. "Romanov says the Army people told her it had been shipped to Pakistan as part of a military support package deal. Obviously it hadn't, or at least some of the RDX didn't make the boat so we look into three things" He started ticking his fingers off. "One, who authorised the transfer of the gear to Pakistan in the first place, I mean we're not really on the best of speaking terms with Islamabad at the moment" There were nods around the office at that. "Two, we find out who signed off on the shipment from Picatinny, that should be in the system, and three, who signed for the shipment in Pakistan, that should also be somewhere in the system" He paused for a second then continued. "Oh yeah, Romanov says a 50 cal was used in a drive-by in LA, so check if there were any in the Pakistan shipment" Nick Torres looked up from where he was making notes and spoke up.

"What priority are we giving this?"

"It's not critical, but it's important" He looked round the room. "There's two dead civilians and a maimed cop in LA from the RDX, plus god knows how much more RDX there is washing around out there, plus four dead in the drive-by, all of which had a military connection; I want to get ahead of this before the media starts sniffing around" There were nods at that, the military didn't need more bad press, not right now. He looked around.

"Are there any questions?" The team was silent as they looked amongst each other. "Get to it people"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Jane's viewpoint

"Yes! Found him!" Heads turned all around the room at Booth's yell.

"Found who?" It was Caine. Booth was grinning happily.

"An I.D. on our Mister Brown" Happy smiles broke out all around at that but before any of us could speak another voice broke in.

"Then please Special Agent, be good enough to enlighten us" came Brenda's voice from where she was standing in her doorway. Looking her way Booth nodded.

"Sure thing Chief" He stood and walked over to the whiteboard with 'Brown's' image tacked to it, just above the Sheraton's image of Mark Rhodes. Grabbing a whiteboard marker he drew a line though ' _Mister Brown_ ', wrote ' _Justin Simmonds_ ' next to the image and then turned to face us and explained what he'd found.

"Our suspect was in the Interpol database, he's a US citizen who's a fugitive from a death sentence in Iraq where he killed a number of people, got caught pretty much red-handed and was sentenced to hang. He escaped during an insurgent raid on the prison he was in and he's dropped off the radar ever since but they matched the prints" He smiled happily as I nodded slowly.

Booth was interesting, in a way he kinda reminded me a bit of me, an ordinary cop who'd somehow found himself involved with a beautiful genius M.E. I wonder if he still woke up at times, looked at the woman sleeping next to him and wondered how the hell he'd got so lucky, I know I sure did, I don't think that'd ever stop.

"What exactly was Simmonds doing in Iraq in the first place?" It was Flynn. Booth looked his way and replied.

"Apparently he was over there with an independent contracting firm called Eagle Security; they were one of a whole pile of private contractors who moved into the country after the occupation"

"Private military contractors, that rings a bell" It was Caine. He rummaged around his desk, retrieved a piece of paper and scanned it before continuing. "Their guy who worked at the Sheraton, Mark Rhodes, he was a civilian contractor over there too, with another firm, Executive Options"

"I know of their ilk" It was Brenda. "Blackwater were the largest of the private firms who moved into Iraq, they had their fingers in almost every facet of operations and operational support in country and they were followed by a slew of others, many of them offering niche services like personal security or logistics or transport" I frowned and spoke up.

"Did Eagle work with Executive Options?" There was silence, answering my question. "We're gonna have to look into that"

"Blackwater and the other firms like it hired a lot of military people" Taylor said. "What do we have on Rhodes again?" Kate looked over from where she was sitting near Liv and chimed in.

"Rhodes was apparently ex-Army" She read from a file in front of her. "Enlisted in 1996, training at a couple of places then sent to Fort Benning then Fort Hood, Iraq, back to the States, back to Iraq again, then back home again where he got out after eleven years in" Taylor nodded.

"A Cav soldier, Benning trains infantry and Hood's home to the Cavalry, sounds like Rhodes was a mechanised infantry guy" he observed. Kate nodded and kept going.

"He got out in 2009, joined Executive Options the same year and went back to Iraq, shuttled in and out before he was declared dead in 2011" She looked up. "He was booked under an alias in New York a couple years later for carrying a weapon but was bailed, he then vanished" Liv looked across the table.

"You say 'declared dead', what does that mean exactly?" Kate acknowledged her question with a quick smile and read out loud from the file.

"Declared dead when the vehicle he was travelling in was, and I quote 'completely destroyed' in an IED explosion" I grimaced.

"I'll bet good money no body was recovered either" Brenda nodded.

"Highly likely" She looked at me. "Please ask Agent Romanov if there is any way we can check on that"

"Will do Chief" I made a couple of notes as Brenda moved on.

"We need to see what we can get on Mister Brown, now Mister Simmonds" said Brenda, walking into the centre of the room. "Agent Booth, can you please share the information you have on Mister Simmonds with the rest of the team" He nodded as she continued. "Given the civilian contractors in Iraq preferred military personnel, would you be kind enough to chase down the military and see if he was ex-military as well"

"Got it" Booth stated as Brenda looked around, looking for a new victim; Liv got the prize.

"Sergeant Benson, please look into both of these companies, Executive Options and Eagle Security, see if they have much in common, and particularly if Simmonds and Rhodes worked together" She nodded as Brenda looked around. "This is a good opportunity people, neither of these suspects have any idea we know who they are, they think they've killed off any leads back to them, so we have a chance to make a lot of mileage on them, let's not waste it" There were nods all around before she looked round and singled out another target, well two of them actually.

"Lieutenant Flynn, Detective Duquesne, I meant to ask you earlier, what have you managed to find out about the laundry powder?" Andy and Calleigh exchanged a glance before he nodded, getting a smile in return as Calleigh turned to the Chief and flipped out a notepad.

"Checked with the distributor Chief, there's only two companies here in LA that buy that particular brand and fragrance, we checked in with them and one of them deals with the Sheraton, an Ascot Cleaning Services" She looked up. "We've got a meeting with them in a bit under two hours" Brenda nodded.

"Excellent, please be good enough to pass on whatever you learn" She looked around. "Lieutenant Provenza, what came of your investigations into the traffic cameras in the vicinity of the attack on Mister Kennett?" Provenza and Hoyt looked at each other before Hoyt gestured to him to answer.

"Each and every one of those cameras was taken out by paint ball shots to the lens; we've had no rain so nothing washed the paint off." He grimaced. "All were taken out in the space of an hour the night before the drive-by" Hoyt chipped in as well.

"Footage we did recover just prior shows a couple of kids on skateboards shooting at the cameras ma'am, if I was a bettin' man I'd say someone, probably our Mister Brown or maybe his friend Rhodes, offered some local kids money to paintball each camera, it was probably just luck that they missed the most recent one" He shrugged. "We've passed the images to the local precinct and asked them to check with the local kids" Brenda nodded.

"Interesting, the attack was obviously planned in advance, they knew Mister Kennett would be at the track and possibly followed him back, or were waiting for him" She tapped her heel for a moment. "You spoke to the owner of the van that was reported stolen did you not?" Hoyt nodded.

"Yes ma'am"

"Kindly head on back and have another chat with him please, I'd really like to know exactly how long was that van parked there, who knew it was there, how often, that sort of thing, someone went to a lot of trouble to set this up, I'm thinking that they had identified the vehicle in time to make sure they had that ready as well. Find out how much time passed since he last saw the van and found it missing; that might help us tie this timeline down some" Both men nodded.

"Will do" Provenza said as she looked around and her eyes settled on me.

"Sergeant Bonasera, would you be good enough to work with Sergeant Benson on those military contracting companies; only take a good, hard look at personnel, I'd like a cross reference between who was working for them and any who might be here in Los Angeles, it may be nothing…" She nodded once.

"But it may not" With that Brenda smiled.

"Exactly right" She looked round the room. "Good work people, we now have a few more avenues to look into, let us see what we can turn up" With that she headed back into her office even as I noticed Kate's cell ringing. She looked at the screen then headed off to take the call somewhere quiet.

 **Los Angeles East Los Angeles**

Simmonds walked into the small single story building that John Phillips used as the base for his plumbing operation, located between a panel beaters and an auto electricians workshop it wasn't much, an office to do his paperwork, a storage area for plumbing supplies and a parking spot in front, one that had a rental van sitting in it, no doubt his temporary replacement for the van he'd given up. He walked up and knocked on the office door, a silenced 9mm held down by his side, a few seconds later the door opened and Phillips looked at him.

"Oh hi man, good to see you, look the cops have...what the hell?!"

The cough of the silenced 9mm was loud in the morning quiet but probably not loud enough to attract attention, not in an area with a bunch of workshops and businesses in the vicinity. The first shot hit the stomach, the second the chest and the third hit Phillips in the head, the combined recoil sending Phillips body stumbling back to hit the wall behind him and lay crumpled on the floor.

Glancing round Simmonds heard no sounds of reaction then reached in, hooking the pistol barrel over the door handle and pulling it shut, grimacing slightly at Phillips body before the doors closing cut off the view. With that done he unscrewed the silencer and slipped it and the pistol into his jacket pockets, turned and walked away, another loose end tidied up.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

With everyone assigned to either existing work or new avenues of investigation I headed back to my office to do battle once again with the email flood. Everyone was swamped, Natalie was dealing with media about the drive-by, while still handling their ongoing interest in the Sheraton bombings, she'd emailed about getting together to come up with some possible new responses, asking for a time so I proposed coffee at two.

Meanwhile some of the bigger Federal agencies, the ones I couldn't really fob off on Ana, were chasing me for info, updates or asking / demanding access to whatever we'd turned up, making me snort; I hate bureaucratic turf wars but anything with the slightest sniff of terrorism, international or domestic, brought them out of the woodwork. I'd just got off the phone from a senior guy from ATF about the drive by when I saw Kate Beckett walk back into the Murder Room and set course for my office. She paused at the door until I waved her in.

"Pardon me Chief, may I have a word?" I smiled and nodded.

"Of course detective, what's on your mind?" She walked a little further in and stood there, a slight nervousness visible as she spoke.

"I spoke to my Captain and she's cool with me spending a few more days out here helping out on the case" I nodded again, understanding that it was a kind gesture to let her best detective stay on the far side of the country when there were no doubt cases pending back in New York. Beckett was still speaking. "She's good like that, plus Lanie and I worked on that child-trafficking case with Mac Taylor, Jo Danville and Liv, based out of the 12th, so she appreciates there's a personal component as well" I frowned slightly.

"Lanie?"

"Oh, Lanie Parish, she's the M.E. we work with at the 12th Precinct back home" I nodded.

"I see, please convey my thanks to your captain for her kindness and consideration" She nodded, twisting at the ankles, a picture of nerves as I raised an eyebrow. "Is there perhaps something else detective?"

"There is one more thing" She chewed her lip for a moment.

"Oh for goodness sake Kate, spit it out, it can't be that bad" She looked at me, a somewhat hapless half-smile appearing.

"Castle" I frowned, her partner?

"Yes, what exactly has Mister Castle got to do with anything?"

"Um, well he's here, in Los Angeles I mean" I pulled my glasses off and dropped them on the table.

"Could you please explain exactly why Mister Castle is in Los Angeles at this particular time?"

"Well, he heard about the case and given he knows a number of the people involved, not just us but a couple of the Forensics people, he thought he might be able to assist" She smiled a little sheepishly. "He is pretty good at pulling things together, he brings a different perspective to a case" I looked to the ceiling and massaged my temples for a moment before looking up to see Kate standing there, an uncertain smile on her face.

"Oh my lord"

 **Los Angeles East Los Angeles**

Provenza's viewpoint

Hoyt and I were heading back to have another chat to the plumber as per the Chief's orders. Hoyt wasn't bad, he still had a lot of experience to gain the hard way, but he seemed to have good instincts

The other cop with us, Caine, he was a lot more experienced, working in drug central, Miami, would do that, but I saw a few other things as well. I knew the type, the guys who tried to look like they were always in control, with a smart ass comment for everything, in my experience they were the ones who ended up bottling everything up, till the stress exploded out everywhere, often into a bottle or pills or until they had a breakdown, or a blow up. I didn't know what it was with Caine, but he seemed the type. He was out with us because he said he needed to get out of the office for a bit and clear his head; that much I could understand and sympathise with.

We arrived at Phillip's business, seeing the rental truck in the parking out front and knocking a few times but getting no answer. I looked to the others.

"His van's here, maybe he's on the can" I looked to Hoyt. "Can you give him a call?" I got a nod as he fished out both his phone and a business card and placed a call. A few seconds later we heard a cell phone ringing, it sounded like it was just the other side of the door; it was that loud. It cut off and Hoyt looked to us as he ended the call.

"It went to voicemail" I grimaced.

"That doesn't sound good" Instinctively I reached out and tried the door handle, finding it turned easily, swinging open and leaving Phillips body easily seen a few feet back, obviously dead, live people didn't sprawl like that. Nor do they usually lie in a pool of dried blood, not willingly anyway. Caine took a couple of steps over and crouched by the body, ducking to get a better look, even as he pulled his sunglasses off then looked up at us.

"It looks like someone wanted to stop any leaks"

I just shook my head, looking at Hoyt who discretely rolled his eyes then looked back to Caine.

"Do you spend time thinking these up on the off chance you might use them or was that a spur of the moment thing?" I asked, getting a mildly offended look in return as I shook my head and reached for my cell phone to call it in.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

" _Took care of Phillips_ " Simmonds voice said, making Danny Wynter nod.

"Good" He thought for a moment. "Are there any other leads the cops can chase that you can think of?"

" _No, don't think so, Mark's already long gone, he's headed up to Minneapolis to clean up a loose end there, after that he was thinking of heading down to New Orleans for a week or so off_ " Wynter nodded.

"Good, I wouldn't mind doing some of that myself to be honest. I'll be glad to put this behind us. Once the cops find everything's dried up, lose interest and go home, we might look at how we can make a play for those annoying coroners in their home towns" Simmonds voice was confident.

" _Already working up a few ideas, we'll catch up in a day or two once I've fleshed them out and talk them through_ "

"Okay, see you then"

" _Later man_ " With that the conversation came to a close.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Jane's viewpoint

Provenza's call had us rolling out to the scene, but we returned a couple of hours later with nothing much to show for it. No witnesses, no CCTV cameras covering the area, no prints, not much of anything besides a dead body which in itself told an interesting story. Speaking of stories we were chewing on that when Rick Castle was escorted into the Murder Room by Kate and, after a round of greetings and introductions, she dropped him off in Brenda's office.

Brenda apparently told Kate to close the door after as she was leaving; obviously Brenda was having a serious chat with Rick, lucky him. For all she came across all sweet and polite there was real steel under that magnolia and mint julep exterior, something Castle was about to find out the hard way. That done and with nothing she could do about it Kate wandered over to join the discussion.

"The fact that they killed him is a lead in and of itself" It was Calleigh. "He knew something or someone that led back to the Cabal" Liv nodded.

"Makes sense, otherwise why kill him? He wasn't a suspect" Ana leaned back in her chair.

"That'd be the killer that the BAU identified, cleaning up any possible leads and leaving us with a dead end" She grimaced at her word choice. "Literally" I nodded.

"That suggests his involvement went deeper than just having his van stolen" Hoyt shrugged from where he was standing quietly nursing a drink.

"Why his van then, why not just steal one?" Taylor took that one.

"Needed time to modify the van, I mean you can't just set up a 50 cal inside the van, the recoil's pretty bad unless it's set up right" Ana nodded.

"Yeah, it either needed to either be sandbagged in, or even better, a pintle mount" I frowned but Kate beat me to it.

"A what?" Ana and Taylor both went to speak, before she gestured to him to answer.

"A pintle mount is a pole basically, with a mount for the 50 cal to sit in, it's what you see all those 50 cal's in the war movies sitting on in the back of jeeps and stuff" he said. "It transfers the recoil into the mount and down into the vehicle, makes it a lot easier to control the weapon"

"In particular it makes it easy to swing it from side to side, a hell of a lot easier than if it was sandbagged in the back of the truck" Ana added.

"So assume he actually handed over the van to Simmonds or Rhodes or whoever, giving them time to modify it, if it was a pintle mount like in the movies it'd need to be welded into the bed of the van right" Both Ana and Taylor nodded. "They'd need time to do that, before he called it in as stolen, that suggests he knew them pretty well" Caine said, drawing a nod from me as I thought it through.

"Yeah, how many people can call you up and ask you to hand over your van, which you need for your livelihood, so it can be used for a murder?" Flynn asked. "That's some next-level friendship"

"Unless he didn't know what exactly they were going to use it for" said Hoyt. Kate looked back from where she was looking at Brenda's office and chimed in.

"Yeah, good point, that might explain why they killed him, he didn't know and maybe got nervous, especially when we turn up and put him on the spot about a drive-by multiple homicide, so he talks to his friend, all worried and they decide to silence him permanently"

"Some friend" Provenza snorted. "Mister Phillips was a poor judge of character"

"Or someone else was" At her comment I looked over to Liv and raised an eyebrow even as Taylor looked at her.

"What are you thinking Liv?" he asked.

"Someone knew him well enough to ask him to hand over his van and he did, then they killed him when we started looking into it and putting him on the spot. That suggests either he was expendable or someone misjudged his reliability"

"We've established that Rhodes and Simmonds were both ex-private contractors in Iraq, was Phillips?" Calleigh asked. Hoyt took that, reading from a sheet he fished out.

"No, he was ex-Army apparently, but he'd got out, started up his plumbing business, got married, that ended in a divorce a few years later, 'irreconcilable differences' apparently, he's generally flown under the radar" Flynn grimaced.

"We need to talk to the ex" Hoyt nodded.

"Yeah, happy too" Booth spoke up.

"Mind if I come with you, I'm getting a dose of cabin fever, plus I can talk to people on the phone just as easily as if I'm in the office" Provenza and Hoyt exchanged a glance before Provenza shrugged.

"The more the merrier" He looked to Hoyt. "We've got the ex's address?" Hoyt nodded and held up his notebook. "Let's go then" A few seconds later they were on their way out and we were back to our discussion.

A couple of minutes later, the discussion had petered out and we were heading back to our desks when the door to Brenda's office opened and Castle emerged, looking a little chastened. He looked round and walked over to where Kate and I were standing.

"Hey" Kate smiled; that 'light up the sun' smile. How did it go?" He glanced back to Brenda's office then back to us even as Liv walked over.

"Remind me not to really piss her off, ever" I nodded.

"Yeah, public Brenda and private Brenda are very different people" He pulled a face.

"You're not wrong" He looked back at Kate. "She said that me helping out was only happening because you vouched for me and in turn Liv vouched for you" We nodded as he continued. "I'm not to go out to scenes but I can work on the case in the office but if I get in the way I'm was out, apparently so fast my head won't have time to spin" Liv gave a half smile.

"That sounds like Brenda. Don't take it personally Rick, she's handling a massive case with huge inter-agency hassles baked in, plus it's attracting a lot of coverage from the brass, politicians and the media, she's under a lot of pressure" I backed her up.

"Yeah, she did let you work the case after all" He gave me a rueful smile.

"Her words were 'the more the merrier, after all we have way too many cooks already, so what's one more?" Kate nodded.

"Yeah, c'mon Castle, let's find you a seat and get you started on the case, you can use my login until Khan gets you set up with your own"

With that we got back to work.


	60. Chapter 60

As always, the characters here are the creation of their respective rights holders and the wonderful actors and actresses who bring them to life for us. Thanks to the powers that be for letting us play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **60 Known Unknowns**

Rick's viewpoint

After years of shadowing Kate on no end of weird and disturbing cases I thought nothing could surprise me but I have to say this case was unlike anything I'd ever heard of. I was glad I'd followed my instincts and flown out to help Beckett and the others out.

It was huge, spanning the entire country, from New York to Seattle, Miami and Las Vegas and that was just the initial investigations. The team had isolated some 1500 or so cases from across the country that fitted this 'Cabal's' M.O." I paused to think about that for a moment, it was a good name actually, Cabal certainly fitted their actions and I appreciated a good, sinister label for the bad guys as much as the next writer.

Their actions though had brought them to the attention of an amazing team of people, I knew the people here in LA, Liv, Jane, Brenda, Maura and the rest of course, plus I'd dealt with Catherine Willows before, but the rest of the people working this case, together they were an amazing collection of skills and experience, all working to shut the Cabal down.

They'd had some successes, but they'd also driven the Cabal to demonstrate just how quick and ruthless they could be; everyone thought that was probably Simmonds work, or possibly Rhodes. Either way they were leaving a trail of bodies behind them and if they weren't stopped they'd keep on doing so, if not here then somewhere else.

With so many good cops on the case, I was unlikely to find something they'd overlooked, instead I saw my job as going over the background and applying my own particular filter to what had happened, looking for the story that would help tie it together.

I was a writer, stories were what I did, and what they had here was one hell of a story. A good story needs good characters so I started out reading the histories of our key bad guys, at least the ones we knew about, Simmonds and Rhodes.

Rhodes was mechanised infantry, running around in a Bradley or a Striker, then dismounting to fight, the same as Phillips, Rhodes' 'jacket' or service history said he was a good if not great soldier, fought well, did his job and came out the other side of his deployments in one piece, something that couldn't be said of all of his squad mates. His unit had apparently taken heavy casualties coming to the aid of a surrounded Marine unit at the height of the Battle of Fallujah, with lots of injured and a couple of dead soldiers.

Reading it front to back nothing stood out, a soldier, good but not outstanding; a supporting character, 'Hired Muscle' but not a 'Major Player' was what I characterised him as.

Phillip's was similar, at least until he'd got out, 'Muscle' perhaps, but disposable, one of the 'Mooks', even less important of a character than Rhodes, as his elimination had shown.

Turning to Simmonds I started reading then settled in, now he was much more interesting. He'd done his initial Marine training, then after a couple of years had volunteered and been accepted for Marine Force Recon, basically Marine Special Forces. He'd trained in a wide range of skills, including sniper, forward air controller, demolitions and small boat operations. His unit had been included in the Fallujah operation, they were to infiltrate in then take up position in a wrecked mosque tower and act as snipers, taking out insurgents at long distances.

Reading on the citation for his Bronze Star and Purple Heart, it seemed they'd gone undetected for two days, before someone apparently heard or saw them and raised the alarm. They'd been attacked by a large number of insurgents, keeping them at bay but having their numbers whittled down with injuries, when they'd eventually been rescued by a relief column. The citation said Simmonds had taken shrapnel injuries from a grenade but had been one of the least injured of his team. He'd been credited with at least half a dozen hand to hand kills during the defence before they'd been relieved so he was certainly as capable at killing up close and personal as he was through the sights of a sniper scope.

Interested, I flipped back and forward between his and Rhodes files, then called up the net and did some research, sifting through online archives for the next hour, eventually sitting back with a satisfied smile. I might be a writer, but online research was something I was very familiar with, it's why I maintained subscriptions to Lexus Nexus, Meltwater and half a dozen other search tools, you never knew when you needed to dig up some obscure information to advance the story, it was the same here.

In this case, though the citation didn't say so, the unit that had come to their relief was the Army's 7th Cavalry, Rhode's and Phillip's unit. They'd fought through heavy opposition and numerous ambushes to meet up with Simmonds' team, according to the unit commendation the 2nd Battalion had received for that action.

I had Simmonds, Rhodes and Phillips together in the same battle, so there was a point of contact as I wondered what else I could find. His file said Simmonds' career post-Fallujah was more of the same, training and deployments, sometimes to Iraq, other times to work with allied militaries, working to train troops in the Philippines, Panama and Kenya. He'd eventually cashed his chips, having topped out at Staff Sergeant he'd walked after another tour of Iraq. His jacket contained a couple of psyche reports stating that he was showing signs of psychological problems, he was less and less careful with avoiding civilian casualties, the last report said he'd become desensitised to death to the point that he didn't care who or what his victims were. I grimaced at that, that last sounded far too much like a few of the people Beckett and I had put away, the serial killers and the psychopaths. Plus it sure sounded like the sort of person we were dealing with here in LA. It helped explain why he hadn't gone further in the Marines, dropping out when his career had stalled.

After that he'd dropped off the radar until he turned up back in Iraq working for a security company called Executive Options, they specialised in providing security and transport for high-value people. He was with them for two years before he got caught by Iraqi police in the house of a dead Iraqi colonel and his wife in Basra. Simmonds had fought, killing two police but taking a bullet as he ran. He'd run into an allied patrol and was trying to talk his way out of that when the police caught up with him. He'd been arrested and was awaiting trial when an insurgent attack on the prison allowed him to escape, after which he'd basically vanished until he turned up here in Los Angeles. There was a note that he'd not spoken to his Iraqi captors they whole time he'd been in captivity, refusing to tell them anything about why he'd killed his victims, though there was a note that the Colonel and his wife had been under observation at the time under suspicion of dealing drugs.

I sat back and sipped my coffee; it was pretty bad, standard police brew really, as I sorted through what we knew. I'd categorised Simmonds as 'The Ominous Henchman', 'The Big Bad's' right hand man, the killer; which left the as yet unknown 'Big Bad' himself.

So what sort of man employed someone like Simmonds? Obviously they trusted him, to not only do the job but to stay loyal, or at least loyal to a pay check. After all history was full of ambitious henchmen who'd coveted the top job; more than a few had ascended to it over the cooling corpse of their former boss. So whoever his boss was trusted Simmonds enough to kill for him, right across the country, without fearing his ambition. I looked over at where Kate was busy with her own work and spoke up.

"Beckett, you said we had the BAU profiles for Simmonds and his boss?" She looked up and stared blankly at me for a second then nodded.

"Yeah, in the main case folder, under the subfolder 'external docs' you'll find a folder marked 'BAU'. I nodded.

"Thanks" I watched her sip her coffee and smiled. "Not exactly our usual" She gave me a small smile.

"No, but it'll do" She looked down into her cup and pulled a face. "For now" I took pity on her and went downstairs to get her a proper coffee, getting a lovely smile when I returned, together with some good natured ribbing from everyone else about why I hadn't got theirs too. My explanation that I didn't know it didn't cut any ice, Liv pulling me over to a neatly typed list on the wall with all the Major Crimes coffee orders there, plus a long list of hand-written additions by their visitors, I spotted Kate's amongst them, 'large skim latte, two pumps sugar free vanilla', making me smile.

After adding my order to the list I headed back to my desk and burrowed back in, even as I watched the people around me. It was interesting, back in the 12th, it was obvious to everyone that Beckett was the lead and Esposito and Ryan took their lead and orders from her, not here though. The team was full of Type A personalities, leaders and doers, I watched as Mac Taylor, Horatio Caine, Mikki Mendoza and Seely Booth stood over by a whiteboard, deep in an animated discussion, the lead changing back and forward a dozen times as they argued, passionately but not heatedly, some aspect of the case.

Then there was Jane, Liv and Kate, they seemed to just mesh so well, very similar personalities and motivations, all cut from the same cloth; as I watched Ana Romanov wandered in and after saying hi to me, got into a deep discussion with them about the case, the four of them sitting in a circle of chairs, another dedicated detective just like the others, and a good friend as well. It didn't hurt that they were all gorgeous too, that unconscious look of 'casual style' that models and art directors strove for but which was natural to them all.

Shaking my head I got back to work, this case wasn't going to solve itself and I had my part to play.

 **Los Angeles The Sheraton**

Calleigh's viewpoint

We were sitting in the security office of the Sheraton Hotel, watching footage of the hotel's security cameras' footage from the morning after the bombing, which was also the last time anyone had seen our now-dead cleaner alive. Provenza had joked that the whole team were here so much we should be getting member discounts. I'd just smiled, given I, like most of the team, were staying either here or at one of the nearby hotels. The Sheraton had been quick to offer Horatio and Ray Langston alternative, upgraded rooms, given theirs were crime scenes, while the LAPD forensics team had hustled their gear through testing so that they could get everything back to their rightful owners, though seeing the normally clean-shaven Horatio sporting two days' worth of growth had been a sight worth a quick snap for the team back home.

"Stop there!" Provenza said. We were looking at footage covering the loading bay, the tech froze the footage and there was an Ascot Linen truck backing into the dock. They'd been one of the two commercial laundry companies that bought the laundry powder the forensics team had found on the dead cleaner. They were also the company with the laundry contract for the Sheraton.

One thing that had turned up was that one of their trucks had been stolen the night of the bombing, it'd been found less than 24 hours later burnt out, initially suggesting joy riders, now though it was here, caught on tape backing into the Sheraton's loading bay the morning after the bombing at a time when the usual service wasn't due for several more hours.

"That's the van, move it forward, maybe we can see the driver" The tech looked up.

"I have footage from a different camera detective, a little further away but it covers the driver's side" I nodded and leaned forward to speak to the tech.

"If you could that would be good, thank you" I got a nod from the tech and a small smile from Provenza, he was old school officer, he'd seen and done it all, compared to him I was almost a rookie but I noticed he tended to watch out for the junior detectives, he was a bit of a mentor I gathered. "Stop it there please" I said as the driver's door opened. "Can you advance it slowly?" He did so and I smiled, looking up to see Provenza leaning forward, a smile on his face too. He glanced my way and his smile widened as he spoke.

"Simmonds" We watched the rest of the footage as Simmonds, dressed in a white coat over an Ascot uniform, removed a big wheeled laundry trolley-basket thing from the truck, it must have been pretty empty given how he was moving it around, before we lost him. Ten minutes later he was back, he hadn't left the loading bay level, given he didn't show on any of the elevator or stairway cameras. We did see Chen Hui-Lee exit the lifts on the loading bay level about three minutes after Simmonds disappeared but that was the last we saw of him. Finally, as Simmonds came back into the loading bay camera's view, the trolley-basket he was moving seemed a bit heavier, plus he wasn't wearing the same jacket he'd arrived in, just an Ascot Linen uniform.

"I guess we know what's in the basket" I said, getting a slow nod from the Lieutenant. We watched as Simmonds manhandled the basket into the back of the truck and, with a casual wave to the security guard on the dock, got in and drove off.

"Cocky bastard isn't he?" Provenza asked, I nodded in agreement, we'd just watched what was almost certainly a killer's arrival and departure with no one the wiser, Simmonds' must have ice water in his veins. Shaking my head at the man's nerve I looked to the tech.

"Could we please get a copy of that footage please, that would be very helpful" The tech looked my way and smiled, a little too friendly.

"Sure thing gorgeous" I opened my mouth to say something but Provenza beat me to the punch, leaning in as he spoke.

"That's sure thing Detective, understand me?" At his low growl the tech recoiled back and lost the smarmy smile.

"Uh yeah, no problem at all" Provenza nodded.

"The tape…now…please" The tech hastened to copy it as Provenza looked my way and raised an eyebrow as I gave him a small nod in return, it was good to have a partner you can trust to watch your back. If it couldn't be Horatio, Provenza here was a good backup.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I wandered out of my office for my regular rounds of the team, keeping up to date with what people were doing and how they were going, to see Rick Castle standing in front of one of the whiteboards, holding court in front of Jane, Liv, Ana and Kate Beckett, though I noticed a few others had turned to watch as he spoke. Deciding to find out what was up I wandered over.

"So we have Simmonds, Phillips and Rhodes all in the same place and time, here" He tapped the whiteboard with the dry-erase marker in his hands, next to where he'd written 'Fallujah'.

"Yeah, but we can't physically connect them, can we?" Liv asked.

"Yes we can Liv, because Simmonds' unit got into trouble and were besieged by insurgents and likely to be overrun, the unit that went in to dig them out was elements of the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry, the unit that both Phillips and Rhodes belonged to" I raised an eyebrow, that was interesting, something the others also found so.

"Can we confirm they were there?" Jane asked, getting a nod from Castle.

"According to the online history of the unit, the companies that they were both in were part of the relief force, they took casualties getting in and getting out afterwards"

"So in Iraq, in the same battle, at the same time and place" Kate said. "Do we know if they met up?" Castle shook his head.

"Not enough detail, but Simmonds' unit was going to be overrun, everyone in it was wounded, some badly, apparently they weren't going to last another few hours, which is when, if you'll forgive a trite saying, the Cavalry arrived to save the day"

"So we can tie them together in this battle, then again when they were all in Iraq at the same time as contractors" Jane looked to Castle. "Do we have any other connections?"

"That's what I need your help for Ana" The woman in question sat forward a little.

"Yeah?" Castle turned to face her full on.

"We need to cross reference the participants of the Cavalry and Simmonds' Force Recon unit with those two contracting companies and see if any more names shake out, I'm betting we're going to find some more people common to both"

"We tried that, but Eagle Security folded a few years ago, we don't have anything like a staff list available, we only found Rhodes was with them because he was mentioned in a report" Castle frowned.

"Would there be some other way to find out, I mean they had to get around in Iraq, did the Army keep a register or something" Ana got a faraway look on her face as she thought it through as everyone waited, watching her. They were interrupted by Mac Taylor who'd been quietly watching from his desk, taking it all.

"You had to have a military security clearance to work there…" Ana's face lit up at that as I remembered Taylor was ex-military.

"Everyone who wanted into the Green Zone had to be issued with a pass, a photo pass, backed up by their contractor ID…" she said.

"Green Zone?" It was Liv, Taylor answered that one.

"The only safe place in Baghdad, inside the area that the coalition had cleared out and patrolled, compared to the rest of the country it was as safe as downtown Chicago on a bad day" Jane shook her head.

"No offence, but that's not my definition of a safe place" There were smiles at that but Taylor shrugged.

"Compared to being in a war zone…" He smiled. "…you take what you can get" Jane nodded.

"I guess so" Ana meanwhile was pulling out her cell, already scrolling down through her vast contact list, honestly that woman's cell seemed to be able to connect with pretty much anyone across the military and Federal bureaucracy in a couple of phone calls, I idly hoped she had it backed up, it'd be a tragedy if she ever lost it. As we watched and listened she placed a call.

"Hi Mac, it's Ana…yeah, you have to come visit again…she's fine, she'd want me to say hi… not so bad, but I need a super huge favour…thanks Mac. I need a list of Green Zone security passes granted to members of two security contracting firms during the period 2006 to 2012" She stood for a moment listening as the person on the other end spoke. "Yeah, we're in the middle of a massive case here and the main suspects are all ex-military but we're trying to link them together, so that list would be an amazing help…" She listened for a few seconds before a wide smile broke out. "That'd be fantastic, thank you…the companies are Eagle Security and Executive Options,…yeah please send it to my work email…thanks heaps Mac, and say hi to Harm too…later" With that she ended the call and looked around, spotting me standing there.

"I heard" I said, cutting her off. "Can your friend help?" She nodded.

"Yeah, she's one of the Judge Advocate General's senior people, if it's available she can get it" Jane looked over at her.

"Someone you served with?" Ana shrugged modestly.

"We were roomies in Washington, plus she's been out to visit, Mac is good people, plus her husband Harm is a nice guy, he used to be JAG too before he got out, now he's a criminal prosecutor in DC"

"Helpful to know" Kate noted, drawing a nod and a reply from Ana.

"We should have something in a few hours, I'll let you know when I do" With that we dispersed back to our desks.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Morgue**

Megan's viewpoint

We were in seeing Maura, reporting on the findings we'd made on the burnt out laundry vehicle.

"No chance of discovering any traces of the murder victim, if he was inside the vehicle no traces survived the fire" Kate was reporting. I nodded and backed her up; after all we were part of the same team.

"The accelerant seems to have been a mix of kerosene, Benzedrine and ethanol, practically guaranteed to burn hot and long, it appears a fair amount was splashed around the interior, we found ignition spots in a couple of places" Maura sat back and nodded, she was as good at this as we were but she obviously trusted our analysis, which was always nice.

"That is unfortunate, but certainly tallies with the actions of the individuals we are pursuing, they seem quite experienced and methodical, leaving little to chance" I exchanged a glance with Kate and got a nod to take up the story.

"We did find traces of the laundry powder that was on Hui-Lee's body, in various nooks and crannies that the fire didn't reach, but it is there so there's a definite connection there" I gave her a quick glance, grateful for the backup. Kate nodded,

"Tenuous I'll grant you but it's there" Kate said, drawing a grateful smile from me for the backup. Maura nodded; flipping through the folder we'd handed across then looked up.

"I see that you were unable to recover any fingerprints" Kate shook her head as I replied.

"The driver's area was pretty much completely destroyed in the fire, the majority of the accelerant was used there, almost certainly deliberately, and the door handles had been wiped down" Maura nodded slowly as she finished our report, then spoke.

"Unfortunate, it would have been good to more closely connect our suspect to the vehicle he is assumed to have spirited away his victim in" Maura closed the folder and laid it on her desk before looking to us.

"Thank you both Doctors, I appreciate the rapid and comprehensive work you have done, it is unfortunate that it does not advance our case noticeably, but on the other hand the care taken to destroy the vehicle is a clue in and of itself" Kate and I exchanged a look before she looked back to Maura and spoke.

"Almost certainly the work of a professional; the efforts to destroy any clues were far too deliberate and comprehensive to be the work of your average carjacker" Maura nodded.

"It is a shame, but thank you for your excellent work on the analysis, I appreciate your efforts" Maura didn't have a nasty or deceitful bone in her body, when she complimented you she meant it. Kate looked to me and we shared a smile before I spoke up.

"Anytime Maura"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Rick's viewpoint

"Well isn't that particularly interesting" I said as I straightened up. Ana's friend at the JAG had been as good as her word and we were looking down a list of names from both companies It turned out Simmonds was the only name from Executive Options that cross referenced to that battle in Fallujah, but it had been a different story with Eagle Security.

The company was run by a Danny Wynters, a name from the Cavalry at Fallujah, plus we had a bunch of other names that were common to both. It turned out he'd been one of the Staff Sergeant's with the Cavalry and his top people at Eagle had all been sergeants with him there as well.

"But sergeant's in charge, not officers?" It was Detective Hoyt from Massachusetts.

"You haven't had a lot to do with the Army have you Detective?" I asked.

"No, not really" he replied, drawing a smile from Taylor, Ana was busy writing the names up on the whiteboard as I continued.

"I've spent some time with a lot of military units, research mostly, and the glue that holds units together isn't the officers, consider them like management, instead it's the NCO's the Sergeants and Warrant Officers" I smiled. "They're the ones fighting alongside and as part of their units, the ones getting shot at on patrol with their soldiers, you'd have to figure that would build closer bonds" Taylor nodded.

"They're the corporate knowledge of the Army, officers post in and out and your average Lieutenant looks to his sergeants for guidance and advice, well they do if they're smart" Ana finished and turned to us.

"They do if they want to live long in a war zone, I sure did" She gestured to the names on the board. "We have eight new people common to Eagle Security and the Cavalry at Fallujah, plus Rhodes, all served in the same company with the 7th Cavalry and went back in with Eagle"

John Waters

Mike Tancred

Kurt Walgren

Danny Wynter

Leon Tran

Frank Minelli

Victor Borden

Edward Richardson

Turning back she wrote down the names we already had at the bottom of the list.

Mark Rhodes

John Phillips

"We need to look into these new people, the usual databases please, as soon as you can" Brenda stated, surprising us from where she'd appeared behind us. "Please share the names out and amongst the team and look into them and we will reconvene in two hours"

There were nods around the room before Brenda looked my way. "Oh Mister Castle" I looked her way and she smiled. "Welcome to the team"

I couldn't help it, smiling back at her, seeing it reflected by Kate. With that I got back to work.

Two hours later and we had a couple of updates which Brenda had collated and was sharing with everyone.

"Tancred is dead, he died in a car accident a couple of years after returning from Iraq, apparently he had a drinking problem, was drunk and ran a stop sign, the oncoming semi couldn't stop in time and…well" She consulted her list again and continued. "Tran stayed in the consultant business and died in Afghanistan during an insurgent attack on the Afghan government building he was in" Hoyt stood, walked over to the whiteboard and picking up a marker, ran lines through both names, paused and then ran one through Phillip's name as well, getting a nod from Brenda..

"That leaves six names. Apparently Edward Richardson is no longer resident in the US, he apparently lives in the Philippines and has dropped off the radar so…" Her voice trailed off. "That may mean something, or it may not" Hoyt put a question mark next to his name as Brenda nodded.

"That leaves us with six names, we know about Rhodes, but there are five others who were in the same army unit at the same time, then came back in the same contracting company, I sincerely doubt that is a simple coincidence, not when it connects to both Phillips and Rhodes and potentially Simmonds" She looked around. "I have to go have another 'chat' with Chief Pope, so I'd like you to break up into teams and look into each of them, look for anything that does not look right"

With that we got busy.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Wynter's house wasn't the largest in the neighbourhood, or even the street, but it was large enough, plus it had been built to take advantage of the view out over the Pacific Ocean, something Simmonds always appreciated.

Right now they were sitting on one of the balconies that had been designed to soak up the view as they caught up, made some plans and shot the breeze.

"So once all this mess in LA blows over and everyone settles down and goes home, how do you propose taking out those three persistent cops?" Wynter asked as they sat back, the salmon steak and salad had been great, what was the point of having money if you couldn't spend it on the right stuff, like a chef who made lunch and dinner most days?

"I'm thinking three separate methods, different enough that doing one of them one way won't allow the others to take precautions" Wynter nodded, Simmonds was an expert at this, he'd killed hundreds as part of their operations, here in the US and back in Iraq, he was reliable as clockwork.

"Such as?" he asked, watching as Simmonds sipped his beer, then put the glass down and leaned in to answer.

"Probably a car bomb for the first, maybe the guy in Las Vegas, I've scouted his place out the last time I was there and his car is where I can get to it" Wynter nodded, not surprised, Simmonds liked his explosives. "The next one…probably a long range shot, somewhere well outside any protective cordon he might have" Wynter nodded as Simmonds continued. "I'm thinking that will work for Taylor in New York"

"What about the last one, Caine?" Simmonds shrugged.

"Still working on that, he takes his personal security a lot more seriously than the other two, probably he's pissed off enough cartels passing traffic through Miami that they'd be happy to have him dead" Simmonds shrugged. "Makes it easier to cover our tracks, I mean there's no end of suspects who'd want him gone" Wynter smiled, trust Simmonds to have the angles all covered.

"Sounds good, let me know when you've worked out how you're going to handle Caine" He sipped his beer then continued. "You mentioned taking a break, maybe a holiday, got any ideas when and where?"

"Not sure, somewhere with plenty of drinks and women and a relaxed dress code" Simmonds replied, they exchanged smiles at that before he spoke.

"Maybe Barbados, I mean the women there are pretty hot from what I remember" he reminisced.

"Not a bad idea" Simmonds agreed easily. "I'll give it some thought" They toasted each other as they settled in for a long, lazy afternoon.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Jane's viewpoint

A couple of hours later and we'd started to pull things together. The five guys lived in different cities located across the country, from New York to Houston, Miami to Chicago, with one of them, Wynter, here in Los Angeles.

"Where exactly is here Lieutenant?" Brenda asked after we'd reconvened. Taylor checked his notes.

"Somewhere up in West Malibu" Liv exchanged a look with me then spoke up.

"Do we have an exact address?" Taylor looked down at his paperwork then back up again.

"Sweetwater Canyon Drive in Malibu" he said. I saw Liv shake her head then sit forward as she asked a question.

"What does he do for a living?" He looked her way as he answered.

"His occupation's listed as investor" I shook my head at that; I'd already worked it out as Liv looked to Brenda and explained her reasoning.

"Real estate up there in that part of Malibu is some of the priciest in Los Angeles, the entry point is the millions; it makes me wonder how a US Army Sergeant acquired the money needed in less than a decade"

"His company made bank in Iraq?" Mikki suggested.

"Got lucky on the stock market maybe?" Hoyt suggested but I jumped on that.

"If that's true then I want him picking stocks for me" Brenda nodded.

"We need to have a good look into Mister Wynter's affairs, quietly mind; I should remind you that at this stage he has, to the best of our knowledge, done nothing wrong, certainly nothing we can ask him in for a chat about"

"I may be able to help you there" We turned at the quiet voice to look at Khan. "While I cannot examine records in the other cities at this time, I am looking at the local taxes on the property here and the associated paperwork, Mister Wynter's income is listed at being approximately four million dollars for the last financial year" Khan looked up. "That figure has remained relatively static for the last five years"

"That's a living wage" Mikki noted, smiling at her partner.

"Indeed" Khan stated. "A very comfortable living; I will note that Wynter has three cars in his name, a Porsche, a Jaguar and a Mercedes, all less than two years old" At that Brenda nodded.

"Then we should most definitely look into Mister Wynter and his affairs" She looked at Liv. "Detective Benson, that is up your way is it not?" Liv looked her way as she responded.

"Yeah, a couple of blocks away actually" Brenda nodded thoughtfully.

"We may need to undertake surveillance of his premises; if so that may well be your job"

"Don't think that's going to cut it Chief" It was Mikki, "I'm looking at that address on Google Earth and it's got a wall all around it" She gestured at the monitor. "Street View says it's too high to see in" She turned her monitor around and she was right, all you could see was the roof.

"It would appear someone likes their privacy" Calleigh stated drily, getting a shrug from Stella.

"No law against it" Calleigh nodded as Flynn looked across at us.

"Does complicate things though"

"Maybe, maybe not" Liv looked to Brenda and continued. "If we get the department's drone people operating from our place, they can be off the street, but it's only three blocks away" She looked back at Mikki. "Show us the top view again" A few clicks later and we were looking down into the property, it wasn't Liv and Alex's mega-mansion, but it was a very nice property with a view out over the Pacific Ocean.

"That's a very nice view our ex-Sergeant has there" Castle stated, then looked around. "Anyone got any idea how much that place is worth, with that view it's got to be millions"

"$10.75 million is what Wynter paid when he bought it in 2014" Khan said, looking back at his computer.

"No way an Army sergeant then a security contractor, has that sort of money to throw around, not legally anyway" Taylor stated, getting a nod from Stella who spoke up.

"Anyway can we find out if he won the lottery or something?" she asked, even as Khan got busy, looking up a few seconds later.

"There is no such listing in his state taxes, he bought the property, moved in and has lived, apparently quietly, ever since" Brenda nodded.

"Let us dig further into Mister Wynter's background and history, in particular how he came to his money" She looked around the turned on Liv.

"Sergeant Benson, would you be kind enough, given you offered, to contact the Drone Surveillance people, let them know I've asked for their help and get them to meet you at your house, if nothing else we can at least have a good look at Mister Wynter's property" Liv nodded.

"Will do Chief"


	61. Chapter 61

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **61 The Raid**

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Jane's viewpoint

"That's interesting" the drone operator muttered, getting our attention.

"What is?" Kate asked, just beating me but he was already playing with the controls, zooming in on a car in the driveway of Wynter's place. We were sitting in the back of the drone guy's van parked out of sight of the street on Liv's driveway, it smelt of oil and machinery and computers, watching him fly the drone via a joystick, controlling the camera with the other hand, all as easy as breathing, he'd done it so often it was completely unconscious.

"We've got a rental car in the drive" he stated as we all moved in and leaned over his shoulders to take it in. "I can see the Avis logo on the rear window" he explained.

"Yeah, very interesting" I said. Liv looked over at me.

"Oh, why so?"

"We know Wynter has a stable of nice cars in his name, a Jag, a Merc and a Porsche in fact, so why is there a Toyota Hatch rental sitting in his drive?" Kate took a stab at that.

"He's got a visitor maybe?" I nodded as I looked to the drone operator.

"Can you steady it up and we'll try and get the number" He smiled.

"No need" He scrolled a wheel on one of the joysticks and the image zoomed right in and focussed, he pushed a button on the joystick and a still image appeared on another screen, the number easily seen. "There you go detective" Liv smiled.

"Gotta love technology" I was already nodding as I rang Khan.

"Hey, I need a licence plate run, it's an Avis rental" I read off the licence number. "Need to know who rented it and if it was local we need to get someone down there ASAP" I nodded and waited, it didn't take long.

" _It was rented at LAX, seven days ago_ " he said.

"We need to get someone down there immediately, we're at Wynter's place and he's got a visitor, we need to know who rented it"

" _I'll let the Chief know, I'll call you back once we know something_ " The call ended and I looked round.

"It was rented a week back at LAX, someone's going to check on it" I got nods as I leaned forward and spoke to the drone guy. "Good work" He smiled.

"These babies have completely revolutionised surveillance, we get to sit back and watch, day or night" I nodded and Kate spoke up.

"Yeah, was on a case a few months back where they were indispensable" She looked to Liv. "That power plant surveillance, remember?" Liv nodded.

"Yeah, they were damned useful there, probably saved a few lives too, it sure beats sniffing round out where we might be seen" I couldn't argue with that, having pulled enough miserable surveillance jobs of my own out in the rain in the middle of the night.

"Let's keep watch while they chase up the renter" I got a nod from them both and Liv leaned back.

"Can't hurt, we really don't have much to go on besides a few coincidences right now"

"It smells though" Kate added. Liv smiled, a little sardonically.

"Yeah, I can just imagine Alex's response to that" Her voice lightened and her diction changed a little to better mimic Alex's. "Let me get this right detective, you want me to walk into a judge's chambers and ask them to grant a warrant on the basis of your opinion that it smells funny. I'm absolutely sure that the judge won't ask me about matters like proof, evidence, due process and other minor irrelevancies like that, not when your nose says it smells" She gave Kate 'the look' as her voice returned to normal. "Been there, got that lecture, more than once"

"Damn" Kate said as I nodded.

"Yeah" I looked to the drone operator. "Can we get you to move round to look at the other side of the property" He nodded and fiddled with the controls, the view on the screen wheeled around and showed the ocean as it flew that way for quite a few minutes, the drone had a long endurance but wasn't fast, finally it stopped and the drone's camera view spun, bringing the other side of the house into view, showing a pool in the back and plenty of space.

"Nice view" Kate muttered, she was right, the house had been built to take advantage of it, big windows and a couple of separate balcony's, all looking out over the ocean. One of the balconies was in use, two guys sitting at a table, making me lean in even as Liv spoke.

"Can you zoom in on the balcony, the guys there" He nodded and played with the controls, the drone swayed a bit as he did, until we were looking at two guys, one Caucasian, one African-American, sitting at a table with food between them. I couldn't be sure but you could almost make them out…

"Can you zoom in any closer?" I got a head shake.

"I'm a fair way off to avoid notice, If I move in they may see me" I exchanged a look with Kate and Liv, getting a consensus, then leaned in.

"Move in, we need to see those faces" He looked up at me then back to the screen.

"You're the boss" The image moved closer, even as the angle changed, he was climbing a bit as he moved closer, till finally we stopped. "Detective, if we move any closer they'll probably hear the bird" I nodded.

"Okay, zoom in on them please" He fiddled with the controls and the picture jumped closer, close enough you could see enough of both of them, one in particular as he did the trigger thing again and the two guys appeared on the separate monitor, their faces easily recognisable, well one was.

"Simmonds" Kate breathed even as I reached for my phone and Liv told the drone guy to pull back, we'd seen enough.

" _Yes Sergeant?_ " Brenda answered.

"We have a positive ID, Simmonds is at Wynter's house; we can see him through the drone's camera" The response I got was immediate.

" _We're on our way_ "

Ten minutes later we were sitting there debating who should go on a coffee run to Liv's kitchen when my cell rang, it was Brenda; answering it I could hear sirens in the background of her call.

" _Sergeant, that vehicle was rented by a Mister Thomas Clancy, on an Illinois drivers licence and credit card. Lieutenant Provenza has identified the driver from the rental car office CCTV as Simmonds and staff have agreed that looks like him from the imagery we have_ " I nodded unconsciously and looked to the others, mouthing ' _Definitely Simmonds_ ' and getting nods from them both, we were sure of it, Brenda however hadn't seen the image we had. " _We have DDA Cabot in with Judge Keller right now getting a warrant, plus Captain Collins SWAT team is on their way there, as are we_ "

"How soon?" I asked.

" _Perhaps fifteen minutes. I want you to move in close and observe however if Simmonds attempts to leave you are authorised to use whatever force required to take him into custody_ " I nodded.

"Got it, we're moving" Brenda's voiced carried her concern down the line.

" _Be safe Jane, all of you_ "

"We will" I ended the call and looked to the others. "The others are on the way but we're to move in and grab him if he tries to leave" They were already up and moving as I looked to the drone guy. "Keep watching, if you see any movement, call me" I handed him my card and went to leave as he called out after me.

"Good luck"

Twenty minutes later and the place was swarming with cops, though everyone was staying out of sight and there were no cars visible or sirens to be heard, we wanted this to be a surprise and no one wanted it spoiled.

The SWAT guys would go in the front, backed by Brenda, Flynn and a couple of the visitors, Taylor, Bonasera and Duquesne. Caine, Mikki and Khan would cover the front grounds while the three of us would join the cops out the back, looking for anyone trying to run.

"Remember people, Simmonds is a killer, take no chances with him whatsoever" Brenda stated, getting grim nods from all of us, we were all aware of how many he'd probably killed here in Los Angeles, god knows how many more elsewhere, which was why we were all wearing the vests. Brenda looked around us all and nodded to Peter Collins who was standing with us in full tactical gear. "Once Captain Collins people enter, get ready for anyone making a bolt, I doubt Simmonds will come quietly, not with a murder conviction in Iraq and potentially more here hanging over his head" She looked to Peter. "It's your show" He nodded.

"We'll force ingress past the gate, if it's locked, then enter the premises, we'll take the lead, but it's a big house and we don't know the layout, so your help is appreciated, just make sure you stay behind us, we don't want any friendly fire incidents" Everyone nodded at that and he headed over to his people as we formed up in groups, backed up against the wall, in this case it worked for us, no one could see us approaching.

A few seconds later and one of the SWAT guys did something to the metal gate and it popped open, with the SWAT guys charging through and the rest of us filing through after them, Kate, Liv and I plus some uniforms ran down the side for the back even as I saw the SWAT team clustering around the front door. In 20 seconds we were round the back, looking over the pool and the open space, no one was out here as we waited carefully out of sight, particularly from that balcony.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Brenda's viewpoint

Peter looked around; taking us all in then looked to me.

"Ready?" I glanced around, taking in the set, determined faces of my larger team, my own team and our visitors both, then looked back to Peter and nodded.

"All set" With that Peter nodded and gave his guys a signal, we watched as the two SWAT guys hefted the battering ram and swung back, building up the momentum before swinging it straight into the door's lock.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

"BOOM!" The hollow sound reverberated throughout the house, the marble floors sending the sound echoing upstairs to where Wynter and Simmonds were desultorily talking over a final drink. At the loud shouts of 'LAPD' and 'Police', both men jolted to their feet, Wynter reacting first.

"What the hell?" Simmonds looked to Coleman, Wynter's senior bodyguard standing nearby.

"Get him the fuck out of here" His tone brooked no argument, Coleman nodding as Wynter looked to Simmonds.

"What about you?" Simmonds smiled without humour.

"Someone's got to be on the outside to get you sprung" Wynter hesitated, both at Simmonds' words and the pistol that had appeared in his hand as he checked it and flipped off the safety, making Simmonds frown. "Think man, if they're kicking in your door they somehow know enough to come after you with a warrant" Holstering the pistol he took three steps to the end of the balcony and smiled over his shoulder. "See ya"

With that he climbed up onto the bannister at the edge of the balcony and leapt off, grabbing a hanging branch on the closest tree in the neighbour's yard which cracked alarmingly as it bent dangerously under his weight and started to tear away from the trunk, lowering Simmonds to about seven feet off the ground, where he let go and dropped, vanishing into the undergrowth. Wynter shook his head at the man then turned as the door opened and another of his guards appeared.

Coleman grabbed him by the arm and started hustling him out.

"Let's go"

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Caine's viewpoint

Looking down the side of Wynter's impressive house, my eye was caught by a flicker of movement, seeing someone leaping over the fence into the next door yard, he had to be 20 feet up but whoever it was obviously thought they could make it. I looked at the high concrete fence, it had to be nine or ten feet high and grimaced, then spotted a compost bin further down.

"One went over the fence!" I yelled, already running for the compost bin. I jumped up on the bin and used it as a boost to look over the wall, seeing a guy disappearing into the undergrowth out of sight. ' _Fuck_ ' I thought and climbed over the wall, dropping carefully down the other side; I didn't want a sprained ankle or worse then set off after him.

I tore through the undergrowth and broke into open ground, seeing footprints in a flower bed leading towards the other side of the property and took off in that direction; crossing the yard and coming to another, lower wall. I vaulted that only to come to a stop. The yard was mostly concrete, no tracks to be seen and no sight of the guy running, he could have gone anywhere. I grimaced to myself and kept going; hoping he'd kept running in a straight line.

Two yards over and I had to give it up, no sign of him and nothing to indicate I was even on the right track. Whoever he was, he'd got away.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Brenda's viewpoint

The door and locks splintered from the impact, sending the doors slamming back against the walls as the rest of Collin's SWAT guys swarmed into the building, the shouts of 'Police' and 'LAPD' filling the house as we made our own way into the foyer after them, guns at the ready though I desperately hoped we wouldn't need them. I glanced around, seeing a grand staircase circling up to the next floor from both sides of the foyer, there were a number of doors running off the foyer as well, I could see two-man SWAT teams checking them as I turned to the team.

"They were sitting upstairs, let's go" I got nods as we turned and ran for the stairs, we'd barely got to the top when heads turned at the sound of a shot downstairs, followed by a number more, probably in response, even as everyone's faces tightened

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Jane's viewpoint

"Some of the rats will run and I'll bet they'll run out this way" Liv said, getting nods from both of us. We took up positions around the back door, joining a couple of uniformed officers who were covering the back. We heard the dull boom of the door being smashed open and could hear the voices inside, together with shouts of alarm as I glanced at the others and decided waiting for someone to run out into our hands wasn't my style, instead I spoke, looking at the uniforms.

"You and you…" I indicated two of them. "Stay here and keep watch, the rest of you, follow us…ready?" I got a couple of nods then looked at the door and gave Kate a head tip; she was the kick boxer after all. Understanding what I meant, Kate stepped back then took a quick step forward, her boot connecting with the door and sending it slamming back out of the way, I slipped past her and into the room there, catching Liv right behind me out of the corner of my eye with the uniformed cops behind her.

We were in a dining room, one guy by the sink, dressed in white he looked like a chef, he dived out of the way, yelling " _don't shoot!_ " even as an officer moved his way, turning to look into the house I spotted a guy running out, even as I spotted the pistol in his hand. A series of cries of 'LAPD', 'Police', 'drop it' and 'gun' ring out, even as he swings, aims and fires at one of the uniformed guys, hitting him in the chest. In return at least four or five shots, mine amongst them, ring out, smashing the gunman back against the wall before he slid down to the floor, leaving a wide blood trail down the wall. The cop who'd been shot grimaces and waves us on, his voice pained.

"It hit the vest, keep going' I'll be okay" Another stay's with him as we keep going; another guy emerges from a room, no gun visible as Liv reaches out and using some weird wresting move had him face down on the floor as one of the uniformed guys moved in to cuff him.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

The fusillade of shots from downstairs brought a curse from Wynter; he stopped and turned to his guards.

"Dump the guns" He indicated a bedroom. "In there" At their incredulous looks he snarled impatiently. "If someone's shot at the cops carrying a gun's going to get you dead, dump them" Coleman nodded, understanding what he was saying and tossed his inside, the other guard, Moreno doing the same, before they ran for the stairs down the back of the house that led to the games room and a way out.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Jane's viewpoint

Kate stepped past the struggling guy on the floor and kept moving as I moved with her, sweeping up to the next corner and slamming back against the wall, risking a look round, seeing into what looked like a games room, I didn't see anyone but that didn't mean it was empty. I nodded at Kate and got one back as she lifted her pistol and swung into the room with me right behind her, our aim following our eyes as we swept it clear. Three uniforms followed us in but it was clear, even as we moved to the other door in, stepping up to both sides and exchanging a glance before she stepped back and took another step, then strode forward, her leg coming up to kick the door hard, perfectly timed, it hit the door at maximum power and it tore out of its lock and slammed back against the wall, Kate already moving back out of the line of sight as I swung my pistol down the hall.

We were about to move forward when I heard a clatter behind me, turning to see three guys appear down the staircase from the floor above, one of whom I recognised, from file shots and the imagery from the balcony.

"Wynter! LAPD, you're under arrest" At my shout he slid to a stop and ran his eyes across the room, taking us and the uniformed cops in and shook his head.

"Fuck you all" I grimaced, original it wasn't.

"You're under arrest" Wynter produced a knife as the uniforms aimed their pistols at them. I shook my head even as Liv appeared in the door to the games room.

"Don't shoot him, we want this bastard alive" I took in the remaining two guys with him and shook my head. "Drop the knife Wynter and you don't get hurt, no-one else has to get hurt" Wynter half-grinned at me.

"Sorry bitch, you want me so bad, come and get me" I frowned, wishing Ana was with me, we'd sparred together so much that we were perfectly in synch fighting together. I'd just have to trust Liv; I'd sparred with her enough to know she could hold her own, and Kate who was still a bit of an unknown, speaking of which they moved over to where I was as I holstered my Glock and smiled grimly.

"Happy to" I took a step forward, noting he was holding the knife in a blade-up hold, equally ready to stab or slash either right or left, obviously he knew what he was doing. Liv stepped up to my left, beckoning the bigger guy towards her.

"C'mon big guy, let's do this" He didn't need a second invitation, lunging forward towards her, getting met with some kind of wrestling hold that sent him straight to the floor. I couldn't spare any time as Kate's voice came from over my shoulder.

"Let's dance" She stepped up and threw a punch, the guy automatically blocking her with his left, then swinging his fist but she'd dropped low, the move opening him up for a savage kick to the knee as I lost interest in anything other than the fight I was in, Wynter lunged towards me as I twisted out of the way, the blade not missing me by much, reminding me of my fight with that Yakuza enforcer, Homoru, last year, Wynter was not quite as fast but way better trained.

The world narrowed down to him and me, that flickering blade reflecting the light as he slashed and lunged as I blocked and parried, he was good, almost as fast as Ana, but with some moves she didn't have, he was really good, enough so I was on the defensive, looking for a pattern I could exploit, we must have sparred for twenty seconds, an eternity, before I got an opening, trying to lock his knife arm in a bind but he saw it coming and changed direction as I twisted again, avoiding another slash, I deflected it down and the blade skittered across the front of the vest, opening up the first layer of cloth, he must have realised it as he did though, he half twisted and lunged back up for my face and neck, making me dodge and twist before I got a chance, in his haste he'd slightly overcommitted, giving me an opening, I stepped inside his arm which was out of the way for a split-second, my right arm blocking it as I brought my knee into play, delivering two punishing strikes to his right thigh before he stepped back, a grimace on his face.

He lunged at my chest again, at the last second switching target, his blade rising for my shoulder where the vest didn't cover it, I dropped under it and lashed out with a kick, hitting his left shin hard enough that he stumbled and pulled back, then went to move and grimaced; I'd done real damage with that hit. I thought about calling on him to surrender again but he simply changed stances and stepped forward, blocking with the left hand as he held the right back, ready to strike at an opening, the fact that he'd gone more defensive was a sign he was being a bit more careful, telling me I'd done some damage.

He went to stab me again but a kick to his side from Kate caught him unprepared, the look of sheer agony on his face told me she'd possibly fractured ribs, he swung across, trying to slash her in the face but she was already dancing back, his slash had given me an opportunity though, I blocked his off arm and delivered two elbow smashes into his ribs, directly opposite where Kate had hit, I may not have broken anything but he'd be hurting

"Give it up Wynter" Kate gasped. "You're not going anywhere" Behind her I could see the guy she'd been sparring with on the ground, one of the uniformed cops standing over him with his Glock pointed at him.

"Go to hell bitch" he gasped in return even as Kate circled one way and I the other, splitting his attention even as I saw Liv had her guy pinned on the ground in a hold, taking him out of the fight. Wynter tried backing up but the stairs were behind him and we could hear shouts from up there as the team cleared the rooms, there was no escape up there and he knew it.

He swung my way, then changed it into a feint, tossing the knife into his left hand and slashing at Kate as she went to step forward, driving her back then tossing it back and doing the same to me, the guy was good, damned good, he was trying to keep us both at bay and it was working but it was a losing proposition, he wasn't getting away.

He did the same thing twice, holding us back but a pattern emerged, he swung at Kate and instead of falling back again she dropped to a crouch then shot her leg out in a strike, her heel connecting with his knee with a sickening crack, sending him tumbling back. I took the opportunity she'd given me to step inside his reach and block his left arm, still holding the knife, then his right, then drive two blows into him, the first a knee into his groin, a cheap shot but no less effective, the second a heel palm to his chin, he managed to pull to one side but it connected with his collarbone and I felt something crack under my hand, even as he dropped and tumbled to the ground, the knife falling from his hand.

I danced back in case he went for me, he instead grabbed for the knife, in time for Kate to stomp down on his left wrist, the one supporting him, the angle his hand suddenly took was ugly, a shattered wrist for sure. He groaned even as he scooped up his blade, tough guy, but he was a mess, trying to get to his feet, the knife in his fist, even as he stared at us with hate and pain in his eyes.

"Surrender Wynter, you've lost" He went to spit at me and missed, then lunged towards me, slower than before, I ducked to one side and gave him a snap kick to the ribs, even as Kate's kick took him in the side, it looked like it was right over the kidney, sending him falling to the floor again. We stood back, watching, but he went to force himself up again, the guy didn't know when to quit. Before he could I heard Liv's voice.

"Nope, not happening" She grabbed his arm, the one still holding the knife and twisted if hard, flipping him onto his chest as she dropped to her knees next to him and, planting one hand on his back, the other pulling and twisting the arm up and round, she forced the socket round sharply, dragging an agonised gasp from Wynter, I had an idea she may have just deliberately dislocated his shoulder. Whatever it was, the fight was over, his arm sticking out at an angle that hurt just to look at.

"Fuck you bitches" The words were delivered in pained gasps, Wynter's face white with pain and shock where it lay on the tiled floor. "I'll kill you all" Liv shook her head.

"You had your best shot and failed, so I don't think so" I nodded.

"Only thing you're doing is going to hospital, then prison" I looked around, seeing both of Wynter's guards being handcuffed. "Cuff this piece of shit and get a bus, he needs a hospital"

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Simmonds ran quickly, hearing shots behind him as he crossed first one, then another big, open backyard, his skin crawling, expecting a shot from a cop before ducking over a back fence and into another yard, crossing it quickly and strolling past the house and into the front yard and out onto the street. He looked round and saw a red SUV heading his way. He quickly headed out, dragging out his wallet and holding it up like a cop would their badge even as he held up the other in a 'stop' gesture. Together with his nice clothes it worked and the vehicle slowed to a halt, the window rolling down and a middle-aged woman looking out at him.

"What's up officer?" Twenty seconds later, courtesy of a gun in her face she was standing in the street as he drove away, a couple of tense miles away he dumped the car and flagged down a cab.

"LAX" he said, and sat back, each minute putting distance between him and the cops.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Liv's viewpoint

"What happened here?" Brenda was standing on the steps, looking down into the room. I shrugged, seeing Kate do the same as Jane replied.

"He was trying to run, we found him and he resisted arrest, Wynter here pulled a knife on us and we had to subdue him" Brenda nodded, making her way down the rest of the stairs, a few of the others behind her as she walked across towards us, stopping by our host.

"Mister Wynter" Brenda looked down to where he was laying on his back while we waited for the paramedics; he wasn't going anywhere before they saw him. "Nice of you to stick around, I have a number of questions for you regarding the bombings of the Sheraton" Brenda didn't miss the sudden widening of his eyes and his face paling before he locked himself down tight.

"Fuck you cunt, I want my lawyer then I'm going to sue you and your bitches here for police brutality" Brenda smiled cruelly.

"Oh you can have your lawyer Mister Wynter, believe me, when I'm finished with you, you'll need them"

"I don't know what the fuck you're on about" he said through teeth gritted against what had to be no end of pain, I'd definitely forcibly dislocated his shoulder in ending the fight.

"I think you do Mister Wynter, but we'll get to that soon enough, don't you worry 'bout that" She looked down at the ruin that was his shoulder, then his wrist and shook her head. "We can add resisting arrest to the charges I see"

"Plus assault with a deadly weapon ma'am" One of the uniforms held up Wynter's knife in a blue-gloved hand.

"Please bag that up officer, our forensics team will be able to confirm Mister Wynter's prints on it, one more piece of evidence to send him away"

"Oh fuck you bitch" Wynter snarled but Brenda didn't bite, instead smiling down at him.

"Now don't you go running off anywhere you hear Mister Wynter She shook her head as she continued. "Well given the shape you're in I doubt you would be anyway, but you and I will be having a good long chat soon enough, once the doctors have finished patching you up" She took a step back and looked around to the uniforms. "Tell me officers; your body cams were recording everything weren't they?"

"Yes Ma'am" At that confirmation her smile widened happily.

"Oh wonderful"

 **Los Angeles LAX**

Forty five minutes later he was driving another rental, courtesy of another of his spare identities, and was pulling up at his motel, carefully checking it out but there was no police presence visible. With a grimace he parked and took the chance, heading inside. Fifteen minutes later he'd grabbed his gear, including a couple of burner phones, checked out and was on his way to another motel somewhere else in the city, pausing to dump the old credit cards and drivers licence; the cops might not have a lead on ' _Thomas Clancy_ ' but it never paid to take chances so they went the same way his ' _Dan Brown_ ' identity had, deep sixed in a garbage at a 7/11. He found a quiet, nondescript motel a few suburbs on and booked in using the same ID as the new rental, ' _Larry Bond_ ' and once inside, he sent out a text, contacting four men across the country, alerting them to call into an immediate teleconference, two minutes later the last one joined.

" _What's up?_ " At the question Simmonds didn't mince words.

"The cops just raided Danny's place, I only just got out, he didn't"

" _Fuck!_ " It was Frank in Houston. " _Is he alive?_ " At that he grimaced, he really didn't have enough information.

"I heard shots, so honestly I don't know" Vic in Chicago spoke down the line.

" _What the hell do they know?_ " Simmonds unconsciously shrugged.

"They were looking into the hotel bombings, god knows how they tracked it back to him, I'd cut off all the dead ends before the cops could get to them"

" _Okay, everyone sever your connections to Danny_ " It was Kurt in Miami.

" _That'll fuck up our operations_ " John in New York protested.

"So will going to jail for life" Simmonds pointed out. There was silence at that for a few seconds before he got a reply.

" _Simmonds is right; turn off all of your connections to Danny's operations_ " It was Vince. " _Keep running your own, but for all intents and purposes Danny's ops are dead to us_ "

" _What about the freight control room and the web-based centre?_ " asked Frank, a reasonable question given both were integral to their business and they were in California. Kurt answered that one.

" _We keep them running but at arm's length. If we have to cut and run, we leave the cops with nothing_ " There was general agreement before John spoke again.

" _What about Danny?_ " Simmonds spoke to that.

"He's either dead or in LAPD custody. They must know something if they were willing to raid his place. I'll see what I can find out" There was a few seconds silence before Vic spoke, his voice determined.

" _If he's alive we need to know_ "

"No promises, but I'll get moving" Simmonds paused. "And if he is alive?" Frank's voice was unequivocal.

" _Do whatever it takes but get him out and out of the country; somewhere the cops can't extradite him_ " There was a gaggle of supporting comments that followed, not that Simmonds expected anything else, they all hung together.

"Okay, first thing I need to do is find out what happened to him, I'll set up another conference call when I know more" There was a collection of variations on 'okay' before they rang off, leaving Simmonds there, pondering how to best try and get info out of the cops.


	62. Chapter 62

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **62 Aftermath**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Alex's viewpoint

I was sitting in Brenda's office, enjoying the opportunity to get out of my office and down to the Parker Centre, something I did as often as possible. If I turned my head I could see where Liv was working, sitting in a cluster with Kate and Jane. From what she'd told me last night over dinner they'd had a big day, something I was being brought up to speed on by Brenda, especially as I'd just been appointed the prosecutor of record for this case.

"We suspect that Wynter is somehow involved in the Cabal, but he's still in hospital while they fix up what Liv, Jane and Kate did to him" I frowned.

"They'll be okay won't they; I mean I know it was during an arrest but still…" Brenda smiled reassuringly as she explained.

"It all went down in front of three officers who saw it all, better yet it was captured on the officer's body cameras, including multiple calls on Wynter and the others to surrender and Wynter's refusal to drop the knife" I smiled with relief, that pretty much killed any civil suits right there.

"That's good, very good actually, so what do we have him for so far?"

"Honestly, a lot of circumstantial evidence pointing to his involvement in the Cabal and Simmonds, but not much else, I mean he's worth millions with little in the way of explanation as to where it came from" She shrugged. "We're still piecing together the evidence, but we've got plenty of time" I got a wicked smile. "We're holding Wynter and his people on assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest charges, so they aren't going anywhere soon" I nodded.

"I expect his lawyer, whoever he retains, will submit a bail request soon; I take it you consider him a flight risk?" She nodded emphatically, something her words backed up.

"Good lord yes, he's worth millions, and that's just the amounts we know about, heaven knows how much more he's stashed away out of sight if he is in fact part of the Cabal" She shook her head decisively. "If he gets bail I honestly suspect he'll be gone so fast we won't see him for dust" I nodded and made a mental note.

"Then I'll make that argument in court; all things considered we should be able to get bail withheld" I thought for a second. "What about Simmonds?" Brenda nodded.

"I'm waiting on forensics from the…ah, this looks like it" I frowned for a moment, only to see Brenda nod behind me; I glanced that way and saw Maura making her way towards us, a few moments later and she was sitting with us.

"I can confirm that Justin Simmonds was indeed on-site at the Malibu premises you raided yesterday" Brenda leaned back and smiled, even as I looked at Maura and asked a question.

"What did you get?" She smiled at me.

"A full set of prints from the rental car, plus from a glass on the table out on the balcony, together with partials on the cutlery, it would appear that the suspect had driven there in the rental vehicle, and was out on the balcony eating a meal with Danny Wynter, his prints were on other crockery, cutlery and glassware at the same table" I nodded and looked to Brenda.

"That definitely ties him in to Simmonds, when do we talk to him?" Brenda shrugged.

"He's in Mercy General under guard while they patch him up, as you probably heard he and his guards resisted arrest and were…dealt with by Jane, Liv and Kate Beckett" I nodded as did Maura. "I don't want to go after him until he's out of a hospital bed" I nodded in agreement.

"Good idea, I don't want defence counsel claiming he was on medication and didn't know what he was saying" Brenda nodded as Maura asked a question.

"Do we know what happened to Justin Simmonds?"

"Bolted the moment we went in, somehow ended up a couple of streets over where he carjacked a vehicle which he dumped a few suburbs over before we even knew it had been stolen and then promptly vanished" Brenda pulled a face and then shrugged. "We're talking to the cab companies and ride shares, but it's a long shot" I frowned, that had been remarkably quick, prompting me to ask.

"He reacted very quickly then, how did he get away?"

"From what we've determined he jumped from the balcony they were on over the fence into the neighbour's and into a tree, there was a freshly damaged branch and deep footprints under it"

"Do we have anything more on him?" I asked. Brenda nodded in response.

"We tracked down the credit card Simmonds used to pay for that rental; it also paid for a hotel room down in West Adams, but he'd already checked out" Brenda shrugged slightly. "No one can accuse Mister Simmonds of letting grass grow under his feet" She looked to Maura. "I take it the forensics analysis has come back on that room too?" Maura nodded.

"Yes, we got to the room before the cleaners were scheduled to and we were able to recover a complete set of fingerprints matching Justin Simmonds from throughout the room" Brenda shrugged.

"Given the room and vehicle were both paid for with a credit card in the name of Thomas Clancy, I have no doubt that Mister Simmonds is already somewhere else using a different alias backed up by the appropriate identification and credit cards"

"That in itself suggests a quite capable, sophisticated organisation" Maura said as I looked her way and added my thoughts.

"Yes, with the skills to set up multiple identities, the money to back it up and the size to walk away from those IDs like they were nothing valuable" I said as Brenda nodded then replied.

"Exactly, we've tracked the credit cards for his Thomas Clancy ID to a bank in the Maldives, one that doesn't respond well to requests from law enforcement, at all" Brenda shrugged as we exchanged glances before I spoke.

"I wonder if the Dan Brown identity leads back to the same place, the Maldives you said?" Brenda held her hands out in a 'who knows' gesture as she replied.

"It is possible and we should know soon enough if we can find a credit card in that name, though given how quickly he abandoned the Clancy name it's likely he's already dumped that one too, though as I said, the bank's not cooperating, likely making it yet another dead end" That drew a very Maura response from the woman next to me.

"Their refusal to cooperate is both unfortunate and rather vexing"

 **Los Angeles Watts The Central Inn Motel**

He'd shaken his information sources pretty hard, but the offer of decent cash for the details had worked out well, a contact had put him in touch with a greedy records clerk in the LAPD, one more than happy to share info for direct deposits into his bank account at a thousand dollars a time. He now had a firm location on Danny; they just had to get him out and the hell away from the States. He'd arranged another teleconference; once everyone was online he didn't mince words.

"He's in hospital, apparently he and his guards ran afoul of the cops and Danny got badly injured, not shot, but he's got broken bones and internal damage"

" _Who the hell could do that to Danny?_ " Vince interjected, they were all familiar with Danny's martial arts training regime; he should have torn the cops apart. Ignoring that for the moment Simmonds refocussed them on what was important.

"Don't know, but they've put him in ICU in a local hospital, he's under guard so I've got a team ready to go in after him" He'd already contacted a guy who he'd used before, getting a positive response. They weren't the best, but they were expendable and preserved the team of people he really trusted in case he needed them; in the back of his mind he was pretty sure he would if this plan to spring Danny went sour.

" _A good one I hope?_ " Simmonds grimaced at Kurt's perceptive question then gave it to them straight.

"Honestly, they're okay, not great but okay" he explained. "It's the best I could do given Danny's likely to be transferred to a prison hospital in the next 24 hours" They all realised that would put him out of reach.

" _If it goes wrong…_ " At John's words Simmonds moved to reassure him.

"Completely deniable, expendable assets" There was silence for a few seconds before Frank spoke up.

" _What's the extraction plan?_ "

"They get him out and immediately pass him to me, I head for a place down the coast I've hired while we organise a flight to somewhere south of the border. If necessary I'll arrange medical treatment until we can exfil through San Diego to some place like Venezuela or Honduras" Vic was the next to speak.

" _And the assets, we don't want anyone leading back to you_ " Simmonds soothed his concerns.

"I'll take care of them personally" That seemed to work, after all he'd been successfully 'taking care' of things for so long they trusted him implicitly, as their next statements implied.

" _Good luck man_ "

" _Keep us in the loop_ "

" _Hope to hear good news soon_ "

" _Yeah, Good luck_ "

With that the call ended.

 **Los Angeles LAX**

Calleigh's viewpoint

"Thank you for your time Ms Schott" The driver, Kerry Schott, nodded and walked back to her cab, for someone like her, time was money, as I turned back and walked over to where Provenza was waiting for me. We'd managed to track down Schott from the cab company's records, there weren't all that many cabs waved down on the highway in Malibu, not in the hour after we'd gone into Wynter's place and Simmonds had run. Enquiries with all the local cab companies plus Uber, Lyft and the other ride shares had found precisely three in that time window and location and one of them, Schott, had picked up Simmonds.

"She positively identified Simmonds from the imagery, confirmed she picked him up at Malibu a block from where he dumped the SUV and dropped him over at the International terminal" He nodded slowly.

"That could mean anything" He frowned darkly. "He could have caught another cab out of here, flown somewhere else or rented a car" I shook my head, that wasn't how I saw it.

"I'd say he came here for a reason" Provenza looked at me with an enquiring look.

"Then please detective, share with the class" Smiling thinly at his words I nodded and explained my reasoning.

"You only come here for two reasons, to leave LA by plane, in which case he's basically in the wind, or he came here to get another car" He pursed his lips then tipped his head to regard me.

"Why not change cabs and go somewhere else in LA?" I smiled and waved at the line of cabs nearby.

"All the cab ranks are covered by cameras, why come here when he could have headed downtown and changed cabs somewhere not under surveillance" He nodded agreeably and spoke.

"So a flight or a rental?" he said as I nodded. He was a good partner, letting me have my head, not ramming his ideas down my throat, something other cops with his experience and seniority might have.

"Someone walking up and buying a flight at the desk's not the usual, so we should be able to check on that easily enough, and it'd have to be domestic as he'd need a passport and maybe a visa for an international flight and that'd be even easier to check than a domestic flight" He nodded and smiled at me.

"Good work Calleigh" He fished out his cell. "I'll call the Chief and let her know we need more people on the ground here"

 **Los Angeles Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office**

Alex's viewpoint

"Hi" I looked up at Andrea's voice and smiled, seeing her in the doorway to my office, a file folder in her arms.

"Hello, I thought you were down in court all day today?" I asked, getting a shrug in return.

"The trial was postponed, the defendant was out on bail and didn't show" She shrugged. "Now he's a fugitive and the case is on hold till they find him" I nodded.

"What was he up for?"

"Domestic violence, he'd get drunk and take it out on his wife and kids, till one day they'd had enough and left" She shook her head. "He tracked them down to a DV shelter and tried to kick the door in, which is when the cops arrived and arrested him" I frowned, that sounded like way too many of the SVU cases, that sort of violence was often the outward manifestation of what might be happening behind closed doors.

"How come it made it all the way up to you?" We mostly handled the biggest cases in this office. "Wouldn't that be a pretty easy local court decision?"

"It was, they slapped him with a restraining order and a fine, so he went out and got shit-faced drunk, came back and tried to kick the door down again, when the shelter staff tried to tell him his wife and kids had left he assaulted the staff member then tried to burn the place down" She grimaced. "Fortunately the local cops were on the scene quickly, with the LAFD right behind them and prevented too much damage, but it got kicked up to us to prosecute" I frowned, thinking that over then asked Andrea the question that mattered.

"How the hell did he get bail, he's made two attempts to find his wife and kids, assault and attempted arson?" I shook my head. "What was the judge thinking?"

"His defence lawyer argued diminished responsibility due to his 'alcoholic dependency'…" She put it in finger quotes. "…and that old fart Judge Corrigan signed off on it" I rolled my eyes, some damned judges…

"So now he's a fugitive, Corrigan looks like an ass and you're at a loose end" I smiled. "I'd say you probably need a coffee" I got a slow smile in return.

"Now you're talking" She walked in and put the file folder down on my desk. "That's not why I came in though, I heard some gossip that you'd want to hear" I looked up from where I was fishing my purse out of my bag.

"Oh" What is it?" Purse in hand, I stood and walked towards the door as she moved with me.

"I found out who's been retained for your Cabal case suspect" I looked back over my shoulder as I passed through the doors, raising an eyebrow.

"Do tell" She smiled as we made our way towards the foyer.

"Apparently Clark, Dennison, Rhodes and Associates" I nodded slowly though the name didn't ring a bell. Andrea must have realised that as she continued. "High priced lawyers, they have a strong criminal law section, your suspects being defended by Irene Simms" She shrugged. "I don't know her personally but she has a good rep" I nodded again and looked over to Chelsea, our receptionist, as Andrea pressed the elevator call button.

"We're grabbing a coffee Chelsea, do you want one?" I got a happy smile in return.

"I'm all good thanks, I'm passing on coffee for herbal teas" I nodded and smiled.

"Okay" Chelsea tended to chase diet and wellness fads, this week it must be teas. Oh well, at least she didn't try and be evangelical about it. My next words were to Andrea. "What's their rep?"

"Hard but fair, most of their real money's made in corporate work, but all the founders started in criminal law so they make sure the firm continues to have a presence there" With a ding the doors opened and we made our way inside.

"Hmm, we're opposing bail so I suppose I'll meet this Simms woman at that hearing"

"Sooner rather than later I'd guess" Andrea said as the doors closed behind us.

 **Los Angeles Compton King's Bar and Grill**

"The deal is you get him out of the cops clutches and away from the hospital, pass him to me and you're on easy street" The man sitting across from him was a little sceptical.

"How easy we talking about man?" Simmonds smiled, he knew his offer was going to be more than enough to buy their involvement, all of them were ex-Marines he'd worked with years ago who stayed in touch, doing various work, some a lot less legal than others, which was where this came in. He'd used their services a few years before and they'd done the job quickly and efficiently; basically show them the cash and they were reliable.

"Two-fifty grand each up front, another five hundred each on handing him over" The four guys sitting around the table exchanged looks amongst themselves before nodding, their titular leader, Caleb Jennings taking the lead, testing the water before committing.

"Maybe, what's the security like?" Simmonds appreciated the directness.

"Probably a few cops, maybe a hospital mall cop, don't worry, I can fit you out" Jennings tipped his head to regard him.

"With what exactly?"

"M4s, a couple of mags each and army issue body armour, enough to stop the cops nine mil Glocks easy" There were a couple of nods at that though one of the others snorted.

"So long's ya don't take one in yo head" Simmonds shrugged, that wasn't his problem.

"That bit's all on you" He looked round the table and spoke, his voice challenging. "You in or do I go elsewhere?" Jennings nodded.

"We're in" Jennings leaned forward. "When?"

"Real soon, 24 hours or less, I'll let you know as soon as I know" Simmonds shrugged. "I'll pass you the two fifty each at the same time and place as the A4s and armour, once I know when" Jennings looked round the table, getting nods from the other three in turn before he turned back to him.

"You got a deal"

 **Los Angeles Mercy General Hospital Intensive Care Unit**

"Mister Wynter?" He looked up to see a late 30s, early 40s woman, trending towards pretty rather than gorgeous, dark shoulder length hair with a nice figure, showed off by a well-tailored suit and heels and carrying a briefcase, standing in the door to his room. "I'm your lawyer, my name is Irene Simms" He nodded, he'd wondered when someone would be in to see him.

"Nice to see you Miss Simms" He figured it was a good thing to be nice to his lawyer, given she was trying to keep him out of the slammer. She looked at the officer standing over in one corner watching him.

"I'd like some privacy with my client please" The cop nodded politely.

"I'll be outside Ma'am" With that he turned and walked out, closing the door after him. The woman walked over, placed her briefcase on a chair and stood looking down at him, her eyes cold.

"My law firm, Clark, Dennison, Rhodes and Associates, has been retained to provide legal counsel to you regarding the matters for which you are currently being held" He nodded.

"Good, any chance of getting me out of here on bail?" She quickly dashed his faint hopes.

"That is…highly unlikely. You apparently refused to surrender, resisted arrest and attacked police officers with a knife, all captured on multiple body cameras, so I suspect that the judge will take one look at that and say no. In addition, the LAPD will argue that due to your wealth and the nature of the crimes you are being accused of, that you are a flight risk" She shook her head. "I will do what I can, but bail is unlikely at this time" She ran her eyes over his body and shook her head. "I take it all of your injuries were received during your arrest?" He nodded gingerly, the clavicle hurt when he moved his head too much.

"Yeah, three of them ganged up on me" She nodded once.

"I will pass that on to the media, an allegation of police brutality might…perhaps…help with your bail application" He nodded again; he'd take anything she could offer.

"So what next?" The response he got surprised him. She looked at him and grimaced.

I had a visitor to my home yesterday evening Mister Wynter, an associate of yours I understand" He smiled, he couldn't help it, he knew his people would be looking out for him. "He made quite clear the consequences of failing to assist him and you…or of speaking to anyone else regarding this" The look she turned on him was one of a combination of disgust and loathing. "I have something for you" With that she reached into her briefcase and retrieved a cell phone and handed it across. "There is a voicemail message for you"

He took the phone and woke it up, then accessed the message as the woman stood there, staring towards a wall with a resigned expression. He lifted the phone and listened.

"Hi Danny, sorry I had to cut and run, but at least I'm out and we're working to get you free" He smiled at Simmonds reassuring voice. "We can pass messages back and forth via this phone and the lawyer, just record what you want into the phone and she'll send it as an attachment, same as I will for you" He nodded to himself, that worked. Simmonds continued. "I know you're in hospital, so we'll see if you can get bail, if not, well we're talking to other assets about getting you out, so one way or the other we're working to get you out of the cop's hands" He glanced up at the lawyer to see her notice his scrutiny, turning away to avoid meeting his eyes. "Anyway, send me a message so I know the lawyer's doing her job, and we'll take it from here. Later" The message ended and he looked up at Simms.

"Thanks for that, I'll record a message for you in a bit" She turned back to look down at him. "I take it my friend explained what you have to do and the consequences if you don't?" Simms's mouth was a thin line, her voice flat.

"He was polite enough, but made it very clear, so there is no need to hear them again Mister Wynter, I just want you, and this case, out of my life" He nodded, Simmonds had got his message across, she'd do her hob, it was just too bad she wouldn't survive it, but they were the breaks.

"Okay, how do we get me out of here?" Simms shrugged.

"Bail is unlikely, however I will try" She paused. "The LAPD is investigating you for ties to the bombing of the Sheraton a few days ago, and have hinted there are other crimes they are trying to tie you to" He frowned at that, the bombings were bad enough, if they had any inklings of their merchandise business…"Have they been in to speak with you yet?"

"No, no one yet" She nodded at that then explained.

"They are playing it smart, probably awaiting clearance from the doctors that you are fit to be questioned, that way they avoid any chance of your testimony being called into question at the trial, which I would have done if they had" She looked down at him. "Your case will be tried by one of the County's top prosecutors, based on information collected by the LAPD's Major Crimes squad, given that I have to inform you that while I will do everything I can to free you, the odds are not good" He nodded, at least Simms was honest.

"You said they were looking into other charges, find out what they know about those other charges will you, also how they think I'm tied to the bombings" She nodded once.

"I will try" He frowned then picked up the cell phone, he had a message to record.

 **Los Angeles Murphy's Irish Pub**

Kate Murphy's viewpoint

Brenda had declared that as we'd managed to make some real progress on the case, even if Simmonds had slipped the net, it was worth dinner and a few drinks down at Major Crimes' local pub, Murphy's, after working hours, the name making me smile. As it was a Wednesday night it was quiet, we were the majority of the people there but that was fine, giving us the opportunity to relax a bit as people from both the investigative and forensics teams mingled and chatted.

Dinner had been good, the company around the grill and the tables even better but somehow after that we'd been cajoled into taking part in some karaoke, the ringleaders of that had been Maura Isles, Alex Cabot and Natalie Dearing, backed by their partners.

Leading by example they'd headed up first and done a reasonable job, the three blondes coming together to belt out a tolerable version of Destiny Child's 'Survivor'. Now the microphone was being passed around the various teams, the rules were pretty simple, a two person team from each city had to step up and they had a choice of doing any one of the three next duets the machine threw up randomly.

Given most duets were love songs, the results had been…unusual to say the least, ranging from the silly to the downright hilarious. Watching Catherine Willows and Ray Langstrom singing (badly) Elton John and Kiki Dee's 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' had reduced us to tearful laughter, Mac Taylor and Jo Danville's rendition of 'I've Had The Time Of My Life' from an Office and A Gentleman had been…interesting…to put it mildly. Jordan Cavanagh and her detective partner, Woody Hoyt, had been next, turning in a half-way decent rendition of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe'.

Castle and Beckett had been a surprise, belting out a version of the Aretha Franklin / George Michael hit 'I Knew You Were Waiting for Me', they'd obviously sung together before and just as obviously they meant every word, those two were completely taken with each other and it showed. Beckett might try and put on the hard-assed Homicide detective front most of the time, but it fell away when she and Castle were having fun.

Finally the time had come for Megan and I to step up to find the Karaoke machine waiting for us. Natalie Dearing was also waiting, a wicked smile on her face; she was obviously enjoying this way too much.

"Hey guys, step right up" She handed us a microphone each and waved at the machine. "It's set up for duets, so just scroll through till you find one you like" I looked a little unsurely at Megan and got a shrug.

"Looks like it's time to step up and represent" At her words I nodded and turned to the machine.

"Let's see what the choices are" We scrolled down, honestly I'd never heard of most of these, even worse most were love songs, something I was sure wasn't a coincidence. Seeing our hesitance Natalie gave us a bit of support.

"You'll be fine guys, just go for it" With that she stepped down as we looked to the screen.

"I don't know half of these" Megan muttered, making me feel a little relieved.

"Oh thank god, it's not just me" I got a questioning look and I explained quickly. "I don't either, so let's just pick something we know" We exchanged a small, relieved smile and a nod.

Finally we settled on one of two songs, the choices were a duet version of Taylor Swift's 'Style' or Cocker and Warne's 'Up Where We Belong', finally choosing the former as the words were easier, we both remembered the tempo and as Megan put it, neither of us could do Cocker's voice justice. I saw that the lyrics were colour coded so we knew which parts to sing, as I looked to Megan.

"Who sings lead?" I got a shrug and a wicked smile before she replied.

"Lead on…boss" I gave her a filthy look but she happily ignored it as I shook my head before I pushed the button to kick us off, the guitar chords running and the drums coming in as I took a nervous swallow, my eyes on the screen, then lifted the mic as the words appeared, the highlight bolding the words in time with the song's beat.

" _Midnight, you come and pick me up, no headlights_ '

I looked up and saw everyone watching me, surprisingly giving me strength, I hadn't done karaoke in years but I remembered plenty of nights at the local bar during college when I'd sung with my friends, I'd got pretty good at it, if I could do it then I'd be damned if I did any less here.

' _Long drive, could end in burning flames or paradise_ '

I saw Megan standing next to me, her head bobbing slightly in time with the beat and a small smile playing on her lips as I sang on.

' _Fade into view; oh… it's been a while since I've even heard from you_ '

I settled back into the groove, nervous but less so as I went on, coming to the chorus.

" _You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye, and I got that red lip, classic thing you like…_ ' The colours changed as Megan's lines came up.

' _You got that long hair slick back, white tee shirt_ ' she sang as I smiled then took up the next line, looking her way as the lyrics teased her.

' _And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt_ ' We found ourselves both grinning before she shook her head and I rolled my eyes as she picked up the next line.

' _And when we go crashing do we come back every time_ ' I nodded and followed her.

' _Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style_ '

As we went on I found myself relaxing, I could do this, we could do this, I glanced from the screen to Megan, seeing her smiling too as she sang, with a little more skill than I had, making me nod in time with the music, waiting for my turn to pick up the song.

I saw the next set of lyrics in red, my colour, and started, seeing Megan nod happily as I did, by the end of it we were happily singing together into our microphones, a smile breaking out as we saw everyone smiling at us, it was a good feeling.

' _And when we go crashing do we come back every time_ '

' _Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style_ '

As we came to an end we were left standing there, a little sheepish at the applause we were getting, watching as Natalie made her way over, getting an exuberant greeting from her, together with some teasing.

"Wow, you guys were really good, you sure you haven't done that before?" I shook my head.

"Not me" Megan backed me up.

"Sing, nope, not ever" That drew a smile from Natalie.

"Wow, you two were so in synch together I'd swear there was something there" Megan and I exchanged a shocked look before her snickering broke the mood. "Oh my god, your faces…" She shook her head, grinning widely before continuing. "Anyway you were fantastic sports for taking the challenge, not to mention resetting the bar for everyone else" She gave us both a hug and a kiss on the cheek, I'd already determined that Natalie was very touchy feely with people she apparently liked, we apparently now fell into that category too.

"Head on back and enjoy the night and thanks again for playing" We made our way back to our seats, collecting 'congrats' and 'well done' from people as we did, making me smile happily, Megan doing the same, before we settled back to watch as someone else made a spectacle of themselves.

The guys from Miami had been next, initially Caine had been reluctant to step up but his resolve had completely crumbled when Calleigh Duquesne had laid on the charm, making me wonder about just how close those two were. He turned out to have a surprisingly good voice; combining with Calleigh's to do justice to a duet version of the Police track 'Every Breath You Take', surprising as I'd always thought it was a bit 'stalker-esque' for my taste. As people nodded along Megan leaned in close.

"Thank god we didn't get that one" I held a grin in at her words and turned to her, the chance to tease her too good to miss.

"Really? As your boss it's my job to keep an eye on you and anyway, according to Natalie there's 'something there' between us" I put it in finger quotes, getting a narrow eyed look from her.

"You enjoyed that way too much" She said accusingly as I let my grin out.

"Maybe" I got a head shake and a mock scowl, both making me laugh before she started smiling too.

After Miami Brenda got called up to the mic, just her, surprising me.

"Hi everyone, I guess it's my turn, but given my partner's not here, I'll be doing this one solo" She smiled. "The perks of being the boss I guess" I nodded slowly, I'd heard that she and Sharon Raydor, the head of the LAPDs Robbery / Homicide division were an item and I remembered her from the trial, she was an intense dark haired woman who reportedly, was blissfully happy with the Chief, something she just as obviously reciprocated.

"I got into Lana Del Ray after her Video Games song, so I thought I'd try something by her tonight" She looked down at the machine and scrolled through till she found what she wanted, looking up at us. "This is called this is what makes us girls"

Strings started up as Brenda lifted the mic.

" _Remember how we used to party up all night, sneaking out looking for a taste of real life_ " I nodded, I'd heard this one, and I wasn't the only one it seems.

" _Drinking in the small town fire light, Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice_ " I couldn't help a small blush, I remember doing that, back before my taste buds grew up and came to appreciate decent wine. Brenda did a good job, her accent coming out a little, especially during the chorus.

" _This is what makes us girls, we all look for heaven and we put love first…something we'd die for, it's our curse_ " I nodded, there was a grain of truth there.

" _Don't cry about it; don't cry about it, this is what makes us girls_ "

The night was coming to a close, we'd each had a go, some good, some not so much, and we were ready to wrap up when Natalie, who'd reclaimed the microphone, stood up and looked around.

"Thanks to everyone for having fun with us tonight, it's been great" She looked around and then smiled widely as she spotted her victim. "C'mon Tsarina, your turn" I saw her partner Anastasia shake her head but it looked obviously pro-forma, as she got to her feet, joined by Jane Rizzoli and Olivia Benson as their girlfriends waved / pushed them towards the stage. Natalie grinned then continued.

"Maura, Alex and I kicked this off tonight so it's only fair our team wrap it up too" She handed the mic over to Anastasia, giving her a kiss that was only half fleeting, then doing the same to the others, making me wonder how close those three couples were, they seemed very comfortable with each other, something I'd found myself envying a little. Natalie wandered away from the group as the three clustered around the machine, scrolling through before stopping at a selection amid much nodding. Jane lifted her microphone and spoke.

"Yeah, we were told we were going to be singing together tonight, fortunately we don't have to do it solo, so here's something we all agreed on" She looked around at the others, getting nods and she pushed the button to kick them off. The repetitive beat and clapping hands was unmistakable, with smiles breaking out everywhere as Jane sang.

"Buddy you're a boy making a big noise playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday…you've got mud on your face, you're big disgrace, kicking your can all over the place, singing…" The others jumped into the chorus

"We will…we will…rock you" I saw everyone grinning at the song and their rendition, they weren't great but they weren't bad either. "We will…we will…rock you"

Liv took up the lyrics as I was reminded of a Pepsi Super Bowl ad I saw years ago on YouTube; Pink, Beyonce and Brittney as gladiators singing in the colosseum. They weren't a patch on those superstars but they were having fun and we were too and that was all that mattered. They did a good rendition, good enough that we were all singing the chorus along with them before they brought it to a decent close,, leaving us all happily smiling, making it a good night in my books.

As we were finishing up drinks, getting ready to head out, Brenda had taken the microphone, moved out in front of everyone and called for our attention.

"There's a couple of things I just wanted to tell ya'll" She looked round the room, smiling happily. "I'm fortunate enough to lead one of the best, if not THE best specialist team in the entire LAPD, that's Major Crimes and the people who support us, in media and forensics and legal and all the other areas, you're all amazing" There were smiles all round at that as she continued. "In fact I honestly believe I have the best law enforcement team in the country bar none" I saw a few puzzled look from people like me who weren't from LA as I wondered where she was going with this.

"The reason I know this is we have an absolutely amazing group of people from all over the country here helping us on this case and I have to say, any one of you would be more than welcome on my team" There was a small round of cheers at that as she smiled. "To have you all here not only makes me the luckiest senior officer in the whole country, leading the hands-down best team in the country, it means that not only will we catch these people, this Cabal, no matter what they do, but we will see them all sent to jail to rot forever" That got a sustained round of cheers, with Megan and I joining in as well.

"Thank you for being a part of Major Crimes and this investigation, we couldn't have got as far as we have so quickly without each and every one of you and the contribution you've made" She looked around, her eyes shining brightly and her smile was lovely to see. "You've been a key part of this case and I'd be damned proud to not only tell anyone anywhere that, but that I'd be happy to work with any of you again"

The proud, happy smile Megan turned on me was bright as the sun, I knew mine was just as bright because I felt exactly the same.


	63. Chapter 63

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **63 Protocols**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I was going through the report Mercy General had sent over; Wynter was alive at least, but a complete mess. Jane and the others had done a real job on him; I read the list of injuries and winced, partly from the list and partly from the slight headache I was nursing after last night's drinks; something Sharon had quietly laughed at this morning.

"My girlfriend the lightweight" had been her gentle jab as we got ready for work in the bathroom; fortunately it had side by side sinks and mirrors, speeding up the process. Her comment had drawn a slow smile at the endearment.

"I might be a lightweight, but I'm your lightweight" I'd said, getting a curl of the lip and a side eye in the mirror as she did her mascara.

"I suppose you are honey" she'd said, making me smile a little wider. Walking into the kitchen a few minutes later Sharon had turned and handed me two Advil and a glass of water, together with a smile, the memory making me smile a little now at how lucky I was before I turned back to the list of Wynter's injuries.

Two cracked ribs, three more that were completely broken, a shattered wrist, cracked kneecap, fractured shin, a broken clavicle, his arm had been twisted out of its socket and would need surgery and months of rehab to mend, he had a litany of bruised and damaged organs, including his kidney, his spleen and his genitals, given he was a guy that one probably hurt almost as much as his pride.

We'd learned he took his martial arts training very seriously, training with a couple of martial arts instructors, we found that out when we discovered that when one of his instructors turned up at the house a couple of hours after the raid, something confirmed by the dojo fit out in one of the garages. Despite that Jane, Liv and Kate had taken him down with no real injuries themselves, that last must have made Wynter burn with shame.

FID was already investigating of course but the whole thing had been captured on several of the uniformed cop's body cameras, including their attempts to talk it out with Wynter and his men, based on my conversation with Captain Elliot in FID they'd be cleared soon, probably later today, for which I was grateful.

 **Los Angeles LADP The Parker Centre forecourt**

Natalie's viewpoint

It hadn't taken long, Wynter's attorney, Irene Simms, was already claiming police brutality and she'd wasted no time passing it on to the media, which was why I was standing here in front of the cameras rebutting those claims.

"The victim received this laundry list of injuries at the hands of police…" I wasn't wearing that for a moment, even if the questioner, Alexia Marchand of KNBC News, was normally a balanced reporter.

"Let me clarify and answer your statement, Miss Marchand, the suspect received those injuries when he refused orders to drop his weapon and surrender to arresting authorities" I said. Alexia nodded and replied.

The injuries he sustained were severe…" I nodded and launched into my agreed response, I'd had enough time to prepare for what was likely to be asked.

"Yes, and totally avoidable if he had done what he was instructed to do, which was to drop his weapon and submit to arrest, instead he attacked LAPD officers"

"Your officers brutally beat the victim senseless" I glanced at the questioner; Simone Saunders from KABC's Eyewitness News and answered.

"They had three choices Miss Saunders, shoot the suspect, taser the suspect or disarm the suspect" I shrugged. "Given the claims about the long term effects of tasers on some victims, claims you yourself have reported in fact, they chose to disarm him"

"By beating him to a pulp?" I looked to the questioner; John Wasserman reported for CNN and had prior form for his 'all cops are bad' questioning.

"They used appropriate force given the suspect was armed with a knife, one he proved quite proficient in, given the damage to one of the arresting officers vests, if they had not been wearing it they may well have died" Something I was sure Maura had given Jane hell about afterwards.

"The suspect is in intensive care in Mercy General Hospital right now, surely that was excessive?" Candace Sin from the local Fox affiliate, KTTV's Studio 11 LA News, asked. I kept the frown about Wynter's location internal, we'd not released that information but I also knew many journo's had their own sources inside the LAPD, instead smiling politely as I answered.

"I am sure, given the potential alternative was to have been shot for not only resisting arrest but attempting to kill an arresting officer when he attacked them with his knife, that the injuries sustained were not excessive" Wasserman tried again.

"When will we be getting the results of the investigation into the assault?" I looked to Wasserman and smiled as I ever so carefully twisted his tail.

"The assault on our officers by the suspect is still being investigated, and you will receive the Force Investigation Division report within the Federally-mandated 72 hour deadline" Before he could continue I held up my hand. "That said, I have been authorised to release the footage shot by the body cameras of three uniformed officers who were present during the arrest of the suspect and his accomplices" I saw eyes widen across the assembled group of journo's.

"Is that raw footage or edited?" Wasserman wanted to know.

"The raw footage will be released to all media after this media conference" I smiled. "The LAPD has nothing to hide, three individuals resisted arrest despite numerous calls to surrender, with one producing a knife and attempting to kill the arresting officer, they were subdued and arrested" I looked around. "The injuries to the non-armed suspects were relatively mild, whereas the suspect who was armed received his injuries in the course of being disarmed and subdued"

I watched as the mood changed, the offer of raw footage had taken the winds out of their sails, leaving them with no chance of claiming it was edited to hide anything. I'd seen it and it completely exonerated Jane, Liv and Kate, something Brenda, Kevin Elliot from FID and Will Pope had all signed off on. Looking to cover their earlier position Alexia Marchand spoke up.

"What exactly was the reason for the operation in Malibu that led to Danny Wynter being arrested?" Candace jumped in behind Alexia.

"He's supposed to be a financier, what's Major Crimes' involvement?" I nodded at their questions and rolled both questions into a single answer.

"Mister Wynter is being held initially on charges of resisting arrest and aggravated assault on a police officer however he is being investigated as part of a wider investigation into the bombings at the Sheraton last week"

"What role did they play?" It was Mike Conrad from the Los Angeles Times. I smiled at him as I answered.

"Unfortunately I'm not at liberty to make comment on the full range of crimes the suspect is being investigated for at this time, but investigations are ongoing" I turned to look at the largest grouping of cameras as I continued. "We expect to lay a range of additional charges in the near future"

 **Los Angeles Watts The Central Inn Motel**

Simmonds sat on the bed in his hotel room and watched the blonde LAPD woman's statement before they cut to the footage from the body cams. Interested, he leaned in to watch, seeing Danny and a dark-haired woman spar, in the slowed-down vision they were a blur of stop-motion, the woman was fast. Danny almost got her but she'd survived and the woman's moves were damned good, the other two women were pretty good too, they'd taken down Coleman and the other guard quickly and decisively before teaming up to take Danny out, brutally so, that last move with the arm socket had been something he might have done, it had certainly brought the fight to an abrupt end.

The station cut back to their talking heads and he muted the TV, sitting back. At least the media had done two things, they'd confirmed the cops had somehow connected Danny to the bombings, exactly how he had no damned idea, it couldn't have been though his actions, and Danny had been at arm's length, he needed to find out more on what the cops had and how they'd made the connection.

The other good thing they'd done was confirm the info he'd got from inside the LAPD that Danny was in the ICU at Mercy General, now they just had to get him out. With that he picked up his cell.

 **Los Angeles LAX Airport Domestic Terminal**

Stella's viewpoint

We'd shaken the local cab and rideshare companies hard, not expecting anything concrete but surprisingly something good had fallen out of it A cab driver had picked up Simmonds not far from where he'd dumped the SUV at a convenience store a few miles from Wynter's Malibu place, and taken him to LAX, we guessed he was ether trying to fly out which was possible, or given he'd previously rented a car there, he was looking for fresh transport.

It was a good choice given there were dozens of rental car booths at the various terminals, so we'd been chasing them down all morning, Provenza, Hoyt and Duquesne were working some while Flynn, Mendoza and I were working the others.

"That looks like the guy detective, I'm pretty sure it was him" The woman behind the Enterprise car rental counter was staring at the image we had of Simmonds taken on the balcony, it showed the clothes he'd been wearing when he'd been forced to bolt from Wynter's place. I nodded.

"Can we ask you to take a look at your rental documents for a couple of hours in the afternoon, the day before yesterday, say from two onwards please?" The woman nodded and moved to check her paperwork as Flynn walked over.

"Got something?" I shrugged.

"Maybe, it might, it might not, they're checking but she thinks it might be him" I got a nod and a smile.

"I've got Mendoza talking to LAX security; I'll let her know to check the CCTV for this area that afternoon"

"Good idea" I looked around. "You know, this is the first time he's really been predictable, doing the same thing twice doesn't really seem this guy's style" Flynn pulled a face.

"Given he'd almost got caught up at Malibu, he probably wasn't thinking straight" I nodded, granting him that, we'd almost had him but he'd bolted and got away. Maybe we'd get a second crack at him.

"With a little luck we'll be able to run him down" I said, getting a nod.

"Let's hope we're lucky, I want this bastard" he said as I smiled, we all wanted Simmonds.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Morgue**

Maura's viewpoint

I had just finished the rounds of my enlarged team, being updated on their progress and assigning new work as capacity became available.

We were busy cataloguing the forensic evidence from Danny Wynter's residence, we'd found evidence of foreign DNA in his bedroom, and without a known female companion were cross-matching with our database. It was most likely that any companions were either short term relationships or possibly 'professional acquaintances' however we were cross matching with the missing person's databases just in case. I walked into the break room to find Doctor Brennan was chatting to a couple of slightly awe-struck junior staff members. As I watched she explained some of the work that the Jeffersonian Institute undertook, and the wide variety of cases that crossed their desks. I smiled to myself; even the most experienced of my staff were somewhat overwhelmed to have so many highly regarded members of our profession here at this time and place.

I had taken the opportunity to make it a teaching moment, with staff invited to 'lunch and learn' sessions with a different 'guest lecturer' each day. Drawn by the opportunity to combine knowledge with a really excellent catered lunch platter I'd organised from a local delicatessen we'd had a good roll-up to each of them. Yesterday had been on the effects of opioids on brain function and how they showed up during autopsy, delivered in a deliciously dry manner by Catherine Willows; while today Jo Danville was speaking on the work she had done in recovering bullet fragments and piecing them together well enough to extract ballistic data.

All in all I was very happy with how the enlarged team was coming together, something last night's very enjoyable diversion had helped with. Wandering on I walked into Autopsy room 2 to overhear Jordan Cavanagh gently teasing Ray Langstrom that as Natalie, Alex and I, plus Jane, Olivia and Ana had sung as a trio, perhaps he should team up with Horatio Caine and Mac Taylor to sing together.

Jo, Catherine and Jordan were offering suggestions on potential songs to his discomfiture, when he spotted me in the doorway and tried to find a polite way to escape.

"Ah Maura, is there something you needed me for?" I smiled widely and, deciding to join in the fun, sauntered into the lab.

"Nothing urgent, however if you are taking future requests, I do believe I would like to suggest that you consider adding a few classics to your repertoire, perhaps the Beatles, the Beach Boys or even the Rolling Stones would be an acceptable addition" Jo nodded.

"Excellent idea, how about Paint It Black, I always liked that song" She made a play of thinking it over. "On second thoughts maybe not, after all I like that song" Catherine didn't miss an opportunity to tease her boss either, attesting to their excellent relationship.

"You could take it on the road, performing at all the M.E. conferences" He shook his head at her and spoke, looking down his nose at his colleague.

"You, Miss Willows, are no help whatsoever" She shrugged and smiled impishly at him.

"Oh, was I supposed to be?"

"I would have expected to side with your boss, at the very least" he said as her smile widened.

"I am, aren't I Maura?" I chuckled happily, both at her words and Ray's slightly nonplussed expression.

"You indeed are Catherine, thank you for the support, it has been noted" Ray shook his head, muttering to himself.

"You bet it has" We all smiled happily, Ray's faux-grumpiness disappearing as he spoke.

"Perhaps your idea isn't so bad after all" I frowned in confusion as Jo spoke.

"In what way?" Ray smiled at her.

"Given the quality of our voices, I do believe that it would only take one performance before the word would spread" He shrugged. "They'd probably pay us not to sing" We exchanged amused looks before Jordan nodded theatrically.

"A very good point" Ray looked around the three of us before smiling widely.

"Perhaps I should start practicing, now seems like a good time, after all no time like the present" Running with his joke I made a play of checking my watch.

"Oh, is that the time? I must be going" Playing along, the others did the same.

"Oh yes, me too…"

"I'm sure I have a meeting with someone…"

"I have to check in with Mac…"

Ray's hearty laughter filled the room.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Jane's viewpoint

We were walking the Chief through where we were in the investigation into Wynter's background and his money when Ana walked into the room, headed for Brenda's office, then changing course when she saw us together at the white board. She stood there for a few seconds as I finished up on what we'd learned, which wasn't all that much I had to admit, before Brenda turned to Anna.

"Hello Agent Romanov, were you looking for me?" Ana nodded as she replied.

"Yeah Chief, that is if you've got a moment?" Brenda glanced at me and smiled before turning back to Ana.

"Of course, how can I help you?"

"It's me helping you Chief, the Bureau's money people chased down the Larry Bond financials Simmonds was using, the money trail leads back to a bank in the Maldives, the same one as the Thomas Clancy one actually" Brenda pulled a face, pretty much the same on I did at that, then spoke.

"And little to no chance of getting any cooperation from them; am I correct?" She got an unhappy nod.

"Pretty much, though I did have a productive chat with the Bureau's cybercrimes unit, letting them know that we were looking into a potential major conspiracy, involving international money transfers, interstate kidnapping and god knows what else" Ana smiled. "Director Avery's exact words were…let us know how we can help" Brenda nodded as I remembered something I'd heard from Mendoza.

"Aren't those the guys who tried poaching Khan last year?" Ana smiled, confirming my suspicions.

"Yeah, they have an eye for talent it seems" Brenda tipped her head in acknowledgement.

"When you next speak to your Director Avery, please convey my appreciation for her offer of assistance" She winked. "I'd also appreciate it if you headed off any further offers to steal Detective Khan; while I understand her interest, I much prefer that he stay right here with us" I could appreciate that, under Mikki's and the rest of the team's coaching Khan was turning out very nicely, not to mention he was an integral part of the team. Ana meanwhile had nodded.

"Will do Chief, on both counts"

 **Los Angeles LAX**

Provenza's viewpoint

" _Yeah, I can confirm it was Simonds at their counter, he walked up at about 2.14, and left about 2.28_ " At that info I put my hand over my cell and looked over to Duquesne and Bonasera who were looking my way.

"Mendoza says the cameras have him here from 2.14 to 2.30" I got nods as they turned back, leaning on the counter as they went through the various paperwork with the people behind the counter. "Good work Mikki, they're looking into it now" I could hear the smile down the line.

" _I've got a copy of the footage, so I'm heading down_ " I nodded unconsciously.

"See you soon" I ended the call and walked over to where the others were as Flynn looked up.

"We've got four possible's during that time" He looked to Bonasera who nodded, her wild mop of hair bouncing.

"We've accounted for the others, these were all walk ups" The woman behind the counter shook her head.

"Not quite detective" She tapped a code on one of them. "This says they were referred from another Enterprise booth elsewhere here at the airport, the customer arrived on an international flight and wanted a larger vehicle than originally booked, they didn't have a car available and rang us; we did so he walked over" I nodded.

"What about the others?" Duquesne tapped one.

"Don't think so, our guy doesn't look like a Pyotr Kruschev, not really" Flynn gave a tight nod of agreement.

"Not with Simmonds skin colour" That left us with two as Bonasera shuffled them to the centre of the desk, Larry Bond and Michael Stiger. I looked down at them and nodded. "We need to call Khan and get him looking into these two"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Mikki's viewpoint

We were clustered around the desk where Ahmed was working his I.T. magic. I watched with a small smile on my face, proud as anything for two reasons. Everyone was hanging on his work, something that surprisingly wasn't fazing him, he'd come a long way since the quiet, somewhat shy guy I'd first met. The second reason was the photo of a pretty Indian woman that had appeared on his desk sometime in the last few days, it turned out that was the Mary we'd heard about and Cabot's 'professional lesbian' advice to send her specific flowers had apparently worked wonders. Now though he was banging away at the two potential leads as some of the team present had wandered over to watch.

"I have Michael Stiger, resident of Delaware, apparently staying at the Starwood downtown, he's had two meals out in the last two days, dinner last night at a steakhouse and lunch today at a café…hmmm…that's interesting" he said as we leaned in as one.

"What?" It was Hoyt.

"He retained the services of Velvet Touch Escorts last night" He peered into the screen at the mass of numbers and small text. "Two hours of service at $500 per hour"

"Hope he got his money's worth" It was Caine, getting a few side eyes from some of the team, drawing a shrug. "What?" I was about to say something when Ahmed spoke again.

"Let us have a look at our other target, Larry Bond…" He typed away as I noticed Taylor looking at Ahmed funny, drawing a question from me.

"What's up?" He glanced my way then back to Ahmed.

"What name did you say?" At his question Ahmed looked up.

"Larry Bond is the name on the credit card" Caine looked to Taylor.

"Got something?" Taylor nodded.

"That's our guy" As we all looked his way he gave us a half smile. "The name, it's an author"

"Oh god yes!" It was Castle. "Why didn't I see it?" He looked at Caine and nodded. "He's right" Beckett looked to Castle then Caine.

"Yes?" Caine smiled.

"Larry Bond, he was a writer of techno-thrillers, military and geo-political stories…" He glanced around us as I saw everyone else frowning as Benson put it into words.

"Yeah, so?" Taylor smiled happily.

"Another one of them was the writer Thomas Clancy, though most people would know him as Tom Clancy" I saw a few heads nod as Castle jumped in.

"The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, he wrote those" Castle added as I nodded, I remembered Sean Connery in that submarine movie, I'd watched it on cable one wet Sunday. I could see others nodding too as Caine continued.

"The other identity we have is Dan Brown…"

"Whose another author right?" Booth chimed in, getting a decisive nod from Caine.

"Exactly, another techno-thriller writer to be exact, I'll bet real money that's our boy right there" Liv nodded.

"It makes sense, if our boy Simmonds likes those style of books, it'd make it easier to remember whatever name he's using" Ahmed nodded and looked back to the screen.

"We have his credit card in use to rent the vehicle from the airport, but nothing from then on"

"Figure he's paying cash for everything?" asked Jane.

"Could be" said Taylor. "If he's trying to cover his tracks it sure helps to pay cash" I nodded as Beckett shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not" We looked her way as she continued. "The big hotels are all connected to the net permanently, so all the credit charges get recorded instantly" I nodded.

"Meaning?" I asked as she looked my way.

"He was staying in a cheap hotel as Clancy and maybe as Brown too. Means he's probably doing the same as Larry Bond" Castle nodded and spoke, quick to support his partner.

"Meaning that they may not immediately process credit card payments, especially at the start of a room rental" Taylor scratched his chin thoughtfully then spoke up.

"That makes sense" He looked to Beckett. "You think the payment will show up, just not right away?" She smiled.

"Not right away, but if he's staying in a low rent hotel somewhere, it might be hours or even a day later before it turns up in the system" I nodded and stepped in.

"We'll keep an eye for anything turning up in the system" I looked to Ahmed. "Can you set that up?" I got a smile and an eager nod.

"Of course, In fact I can arrange to get an alert as soon as a payment using that credit card is processed" I smiled happily at him then looked around the team.

"Now all we have to do is wait for the technology to point us right to Simmonds"

 **Los Angeles Mercy General Hospital**

Simmonds walked over and watched as the four guys exited their car, parked on one of the lower levels of the hospital's multi story car park, dressed in typical grey maintenance coveralls, retrieving four cheap sports bags containing their M4s, two spare magazines each and the clown masks. He noted they were all wearing body armour under the coveralls and each had gloves on, they weren't stupid or taking chances.

"Okay, I've confirmed he's in ICU, so grab him, get him back here, I'll be waiting in the van" He nodded towards a white van parked two spaces up that had been fitted with a mattress in the back. "You pass Danny to me, I pass you the money" He looked around the four men, seeing their expressions harden as they put on their game faces. They looked ready. "Anybody got any questions?" There were none so he nodded. "Good luck" With that they nodded as one of them spoke.

"Back soon" With that they turned and walked towards the stairs down to ground level as he headed back to the van, parked so he could watch the approach to the Hospital's ICU building from behind the wheel. Settling back in the driver's seat he forced himself to relax, watching as the four men came into view, walking towards the building's entrance. It was all up to them now.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I was having a chat with Caine and Taylor, both had a lot of experience and while we'd started talking about this case we'd wandered off topic a bit, comparing some of the stranger criminal motivations we'd come across, a discussion I was finding surprisingly enjoyable when I looked up at an urgent knocking to see Khan standing in my door.

"My apologies for interrupting Chief Johnson…" I nodded; Ahmed was a bit of a stickler for politeness no matter what, if he thought it was important enough to break in unannounced, it was.

"What is it detective?"

"There is an attack in progress at Mercy General Hospital, reports of armed men assaulting the hospital and fire fights in the Intensive Care Unit" I stood abruptly, that was where Wynter was being held.

"Contact everyone, the whole team, wherever they are get them all moving for Mercy General" We'd never arrive in time but it didn't matter. An armed attack on a hospital, even if somehow Wynter wasn't involved, would become a Major Crimes case almost by default. I turned to see both Caine and Taylor standing there, slightly confused expressions on their faces, making me explain as I grabbed for my bag and checked my badge and pistol were safely stowed.

"Mercy General ICU is where Wynter was being held" I saw both of their faces tighten as they stood, Caine slightly faster to speak.

"If it is Wynter they're after he may be more important than we thought" Taylor was right behind him and rather more direct.

"Let's go"


	64. Chapter 64

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **64 Assault on Mercy General**

 **Los Angeles Mercy General Hospital**

Brenda's viewpoint

On approach to Mercy General we could see the array of lights flickering from the vast number of black and whites that had surrounded the hospital. Slowly making our way through the perimeter we drove as close as we could then dismounted, pushing our way through the confusion. As we got closer we had to make our way through the thronging crowd of officers, staff and civilians, showing our badges at various points and finally passing inside the building.

It was barely-controlled chaos in there, people running around; bloodied bandages on the floor here, a bloody handprint on the wall there, broken glass everywhere. I grabbed a uniformed sergeant and got directed to a Commander Torres, the on-scene commander, located further inside. Grimacing at the mess I headed towards ICU, pausing at a body on the ground covered by a sheet, the police-issue shoes poking out telling me another of our officers had fallen. Several officers were standing close by as I paused, my enlarged team piling up behind me as I knelt by the body for a moment, lifting the sheet to see a young Latino-looking patrol officer lying there, shot twice in the chest, he couldn't have been much older than late twenties. I swallowed then shook my head, laying the sheet back before looking up and speaking to several uniformed officers watching.

"Where can I find Commander Torres?" They looked between each other before one pointed off down a side corridor.

"Uh, down there Ma'am, he's set up a CP in a room at the end of the corridor" I stood and nodded.

"Thank you" Taking a breath I turned and made my way down the direction indicated where less than a minute later I walked in to what had been a break room but was now a makeshift command post to find a Commander surrounded by officers as he listened to reports from new arrivals before sending them off with instructions. One of his officers nudged him and he looked up, taking me in.

"Chief Johnson" I nodded in return.

"Commander Torres" I walked over and joined him. "A god awful mess out there, mind filling me in on what happened?" He grimaced then nodded.

"A mess is right" He led me towards a table with a floor plan of the hospital laying on it, pointing at it as people gathered around. "They hit the ICU wing, four assailants armed with automatic rifles wearing maintenance coveralls with body armour and clown masks, they got the drop on officers here, I've got one dead officer…" I nodded and interrupted.

"I saw, I'm sorry" He shook his head then pressed on.

"They pushed into ICU, firing pretty fucking randomly, pardon my language Chief…" I nodded again, not offended in the slightest. "They shot at anything that moved, basically suppression fire I guess, getting people to run or hide while they were searching, they hit two of my men plus a few patients and staff, some of them are being prepped for surgery now, those who can be anyway" I frowned at that, knowing what he wasn't saying.

"Searching, for?" It was Caine, standing to one side. Torres glanced at him and replied.

"They grabbed a nurse, demanded to know where that Wynter guy was, turned out he was in another building getting an x-ray" He shook his head, his face bitter. "When she told them he wasn't here they got pissed, they asked where X-Ray was and when she told them in another building…well, the nurse has a busted jaw where the guy smashed her with the butt of his rifle" Faces hardened around the table as Torres continued. "They must have decided they had to bug out, they didn't have time to find Wynter, so they started to bolt" He looked up at me and then back at the map, indicating a corridor. "They didn't go out the way they came in, instead heading out this way where they ran into officers coming the other way" I frowned.

"How long was this after the assault started?"

"A bit less than two minutes ma'am" He must have seen my surprise as he hastened to answer. "Lots of cops come and go here all day, in this case two officers had just been on their way out after interviewing traffic accident victims in Emergency, they heard the shooting and the despatchers alert, ran over and caught the assailants on the way out the door"

"Taking on multiple attackers armed with assault rifles with pistols, pretty gutsy move" It was Flynn, getting murmurs of support from the others gathered around as Torres nodded emphatically.

"That it was Chief and that's what my report's going to say, together with a recommendation for commendations" I nodded; I'd happily sign off on that. "Anyway they hit one guy in the head and leg, he bled out before anyone could help him" He indicated the map. "The bad guys sprayed the area with bullets, hitting one officer in the vest and driving both our people into cover and then headed back inside and ran back through ICU, thank god they were in too much of a hurry to think of taking prisoners" His finger traced across the map. "They saw more cops pulling up at the door they came in, here, there was a short fire fight, we think one of them was wounded before they ran, turning left here and running into one of the hospital's security guards who they shot…" He tapped the map. "…here; he's in surgery now with a bad head wound" I grimaced; this was getting better and better.

"Go on" Torres glanced around then indicated the map again.

"It looks like they separated here, we only saw two from that point on, neither was the guy who we think had been hit before" He shrugged. "The two of them went down here and ran out this fire exit between the buildings, they must have seen more arriving units 'cause they ducked back inside, headed up this way and ran into two officers as they went through this door. There was a close range fire fight, both officers were shot, one is being prepped for surgery, he got hit in the stomach, the other wasn't that badly hurt and was carrying a shotgun, he got one of the attackers full in the face at close range…" I nodded with grim satisfaction, that one wasn't going anywhere anymore, ever. "The other was also wounded in the face by the shotgun pellets and kept running…" His finger traced down a corridor, "He ran this way, barrelled straight through this door and right into several officers who were coming the other way; they tackled the suspect and managed to subdue him, one officer was shot in the leg during the melee" I nodded as Provenza spoke up.

"You mentioned four attackers, but that only accounts for three" Torres nodded.

"One vanished, he was last seen here" He tapped an intersection. "We found an assault rifle, body armour, a clown mask and a set of coveralls in this cleaner's closet, there was blood on the coveralls around a bullet hole in the right shoulder so it looks like he was the one we thought had been hit earlier; I figure he ditched the stuff, then doubled back, escaping in the throng of people bugging out" I frowned.

"Maybe, maybe not…what about Wynter?" Torres wasn't dumb, nodding at me.

"Thought he might try for him so I've got four officers in the X-Ray room and another four outside, so far no one's come near them" I nodded.

"Good work there Commander, very good" Looking up I braced for the bad news. "What's the total butcher's bill?" Torres shook his head.

"Too damned high; I've got Officer Jose Cavella back in the hall, four hospital staff and three patients dead in ICU plus seven police and eleven other staff members and patients who were wounded in the attack" He paused then continued. "Plus the two dead and one wounded attacker" I scowled, this was going to be a monumental nightmare for every reason under the sun; nodding at him I spoke formally.

"Captain, I formally relive you as on-scene commander however I would appreciate it if you would continue to deal with matters while I get up to speed on the crime scene, if that's okay" He nodded.

"Of course Chief" I smiled tightly.

"Bless you Captain" I turned to my team. "Sergeant Rizzoli, if you would be so kind as to confirm Doctor Isles and her team's ETA that would be helpful" She nodded and went to step away when I stopped her. "Given the size of this mess and the likely link to our larger case, she may wish to call upon her temporary additional staff for assistance" I nodded and got one in return before she turned away as I looked for the next person. "Sergeant Benson, give my compliments to Miss Dearing and confirm that she is en-route if you please, then give her a quick summation of the scope of the disaster she is walking into" She did the same as I looked for another messenger. "Detective Kahn, please confirm with Lieutenant…sorry, Captain Elliot now, that FID is on the way, we need to get the use of force aspect signed off and out of the way of just as soon as they possibly can" He nodded and spoke up.

"Yes Chief, at once" I nodded then turned back to Torres, making sure I'd heard right.

"You said M4s, not AR15s?" He shook his head.

"No ma'am, definitely M4s, full automatic fire, complete with all the fittings for scopes and grenade launchers and stuff, definitely military issue, we've taken all four into custody" I nodded once and looked round, catching Andy's eye.

"Lieutenant Flynn, please call Special Agent Romanov and get her briefed in if you please, M4s means a military connection, I'll want her on that just as soon as possible please" I got a nod as he turned away I looked round then settled on Provenza.

"Sorry Lieutenant, but could you please contact Chief Pope's office and inform Belinda there that Chief Pope will probably want to be down here, Miss Dearing's good but a shootout in a hospital with multiple fatalities…" I trailed off, seeing his nod of comprehension.

"Got it, we can wheel him out in front of the media, take some of the heat off Natalie" I gave him a grim smile.

"Exactly" I turned back to Torres. "Commander, if you would you be so kind as to walk me through the scene I'd be grateful" He nodded and indicated back towards the door.

"Yeah sure Chief, this way" I nodded and we headed out, still trailed by my entourage, I still had Caine, Taylor, Beckett, Duquesne, Mendoza, Hoyt and Bonasera with me plus a few of Torres people. A few minutes later Jane rejoined us, telling us that Maura and her team were pulling up, Olivia was next, reporting that Natalie was apparently not far behind.

ICU was a disaster, the place was full of shattered glass, bullet holes and bloodstains and lots of damaged equipment; god knows how long it would take to get things back up and running. A senior doctor, Parkinson, had turned up and was telling me they were directing all serious ICU cases to other hospitals for as long as it took to get this place operational again.

"That must play hell with your operating scheduling" I noted, getting a nod from Parkinson, who was grimacing at a piece of expensive-looking medical equipment on the wall that had taken two bullets.

"Tell me about it, once we finish working on the shooting victims we may have to shut down critical surgery until the ICU is functional again, whenever that is" I nodded as we continued on, finally being shown the dead staff and patients in ICU, seeing Buzz filming everything. Parkinson had to excuse himself at that point, unlike us he wasn't used to seeing violent death up close, let alone colleagues and patients. I watched him go then moved out to where the first of the attacker's bodies laid, covered by a sheet which had started soaking up all the blood pooled around the corpse. Beckett kneeled and lifted the sheet by an as yet unstained corner, revealing that the dead man was a fit-looking guy in his late 30s I'd guess, wearing a generic grey maintenance coverall; a cheap clown mask lay by his body.

"Any ID?" I asked. Torres shook his head.

"Don't know, Chief" Beckett kneeled and carefully checked his pockets before looking up at me.

"Nothing here Chief" I frowned and looked to Torres.

"Can you check that none of your people have already got his I.D. please?" He nodded.

"Don't think so, I didn't ask for it, but I'll check" I nodded once and we continued on. Walking back inside I could see Maura kneeling next to Officer Cavalla, our fallen officer, her team setting up around her. Catching movement she looked up and exchanged a nod with me before I continued on. We traced the movements of the assailants, noting other members of Maura's enlarged team working on the victims, by the time that was done Natalie was waiting for me, an unaccustomedly grim expression on her face. Cutting to the chase I asked what I was dreading.

"I know it's bad but exactly how bad is it?" At my question Natalie shook her head once, not pulling her punches.

"On a scale of one to ten, we've got an eleven happening here Brenda" I swallowed at that; Natalie wasn't normally one for exaggeration, not about her work, it must be bad, but I was unprepared for what she told me. "It's front page news worldwide, every media organisation and news blogger in LA is outside, many of them are going out live and every national and even many international media outlets are carrying the news tickers, those that aren't going out live, the BBC, Al Jazeera, Agence France-Presse, Sky News, Deutsche Welle, you name it, they're all here. It's far worse than the trial or the hotel bombing" She shook her head.

"It's the biggest story globally, from Boston to Berlin to Beijing it's the only news story being reported, plus social media is on fire about it" She shook her head. "As you can imagine it's a crazy circus out there, the old Roman colosseum-style circus, and guess who's the Christian being fed to the lions?" I nodded sympathetically.

"I've asked for Pope to attend, you can wheel him out when he gets here and he can take some of the heat" Surprisingly she shook her head.

"He's called me, he's 'unavailable'…" she put it in finger quotes. "…right now, he's told me it's my show and if necessary I'm to put you forward for the media"

I looked away for a moment, suppressing a flash of anger, Pope was being a right ass, dodging the bad press and sending Natalie and me out to protect his precious skin and reputation. I got myself under control and looked up to see Natalie nodding her head, a rueful expression on her face.

"Yeah, hence my comment about Christians and lions" I scowled then shook my head; Natalie wasn't responsible for this mess, that was all on Pope.

"Do I really need to speak to the media, you know I hate that?" She shrugged.

"I've given them a holding statement, plus plenty of no comments, but we're going to have to have something stronger soon" I grimaced, right now I'd happily shoot Pope and to hell with the consequences. Natalie was continuing. "They're starting to get pretty feral, what with the same holding statements, we have to give them something soon or they'll start going off reservation" I frowned at that comment, something I voiced.

"What do you mean?" Natalie waved around us.

"We're trying to keep them contained, but they're already chasing any staff or patients who saw anything, next they'll try chasing down victims and the family of victims" She pulled a face. "The police union's already released Officer Cavalla's name and asked for the media to respect the family's privacy" Hearing that I felt like spitting, that was despicable.

"Releasing his name like that's blood in the water to the media sharks" I angrily stated to Natalie, getting a grim nod in return.

"The union's leadership is already clustered round Cavalla's family, ready to get their faces in front of the camera; speaking on behalf of the family. Don't forget their boss, Mullins, has political aspirations" I really did feel sick now.

"Wonderful" I shook my head then looked her straight in the eye and spoke. "Stall them for a while longer Natalie, I have to get on top of this situation before I'm in any position to say anything" I gave her a grim smile. "Let's convene back here in an hour and we can run through what you think I should say" She nodded, checking her watch.

"Will do, I'll come find you at 2.15 then" I nodded and watched as she turned and headed back out to face the sharks, she was good at it but I hated sending her to take the brunt of the media circus alone, knowing the necessity of it just the same. I turned back to my greatly enlarged team and shook my head.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, I have to say this case continues to established a new series of baselines for what I consider horrible; every time I think it can't possibly get worse, it does and unfortunately today is no exception" I got grim nods from everyone as I started detailing everyone off.

"Lieutenant Bonasera, Sergeant Rizzoli, Sergeant Benson, Detective Hoyt, Detective Duquesne; please start on witness statements, heaven knows there are going to be a whole lot of those to collect and cross reference" I got nods and looked round. "Detective Kahn, please gather the surveillance footage, in particular see if you can find out how they got here and more importantly how the last gunman got away, if he did" I glanced at his partner. "Please work with Detective Mendoza to establish the exact timeline from the tapes; we'll need that and so will FID" They nodded and I found another victim. "Lieutenant Flynn, could you please take charge of a search of the hospital for our last gunman, requisition as many officers as you need, he's vanished and while he might indeed be well and truly long gone, a hospital provides a vast array of hiding places and potential hostages" He nodded grimly, realising what a mess that might turn into as I continued.

"I understand Tactical Response is on site so please liaise with Commander Collins in case you need his people" He nodded again and I took in the others. "Lieutenant Taylor, Lieutenant Caine, please work with Lieutenant Flynn to take charge of the search, split up the job as necessary, floor by floor and building by building if you have to" They nodded as I paused for a second, my eyes roving over who hadn't been assigned and I thought through who and what needed to be handled, lighting on Seeley Booth. "Agent Booth, please take charge of relations with the various federal agencies that will no doubt be converging on this god-almighty mess, please work with Agent Romanov when she gets here" I got a quick nod.

"Got it" I glanced round and saw a couple of unassigned officers.

"Lieutenant Provenza, please work alongside Commander Torres to ensure we don't miss anything and make sure that his people, our team and FID don't get in each other's way"

"Right" Glancing round I realised almost everyone was assigned and nodded.

"Alright everyone, let's get to it" They scattered, leaving Kate Beckett standing there looking a tad confused.

"What about me Chief?" I smiled.

"You're with me Kate, in case I need someone I can rely on" I got a tight smile and a nod as I headed back toward Torres command centre, Kate at my back.

Forty five minutes later I was starting to get a good handle on the situation, we had FID interviewing everyone involved, Maura, assisted by Danville, Cavanagh and Willows were finishing up with the last of the dead victims prior to them being sent to the morgue where Brennan, Langstrom, Hunt and Murphy were waiting to conduct autopsy's, the larger size of my combined team of detectives were working quickly and efficiently through the vast number of witnesses, amassing statements rapidly and collecting all the video footage from the hospital's CCTV system while Buzz filmed everything he could, given the size of the crime scene. Meanwhile Elliot's FID team was conducting their own investigation, working in and around my team as we both collected information as I made a mental note to get him in to swap notes.

Anastasia Romanov had stalked in from outside a few minutes back and was prowling the halls, ' _to avoid shooting any of the media_ ' she'd explained, her uncharacteristically foul mood telling me in no uncertain terms just how bad it was out there. I was dreading my appearance in front of them but aware I couldn't get out of it.

Ana confirmed all four of the attackers weapons were M4s, as she had put it she'd carried enough of them to know. She also confirmed that they were set up with a wide variety of attachment points for accessories, almost certainly Army-issue, something she was going to be chasing up just as soon as we finished up here. I was still thinking about a military connection when Caine came looking for me urgently, one of his search teams clearing the car parks had found something we needed to see, immediately.

The fourth guy had eluded capture, or at least we thought he had. We made our way out to the car park, taking a wide detour to avoid being spotted by the huge media contingent that was mostly camped out front of the hospital, and into one of the hospital's multi-story car parks. A team of officers had found another body in the driver's seat of a car. It sure looked like our fourth shooter as he was carrying a bullet wound in the right shoulder. That matched up with the vision from the CCTVs that we'd seen of the missing shooter, plus the physical evidence of the coverall we'd previously recovered.

The shoulder wound hadn't been what had killed him though; he'd been shot in the right temple at very close range, almost certainly from someone in the passenger's seat, close enough that you could see the powder burns on the skin.

"What the hell happened?" It was Flynn. Taylor shrugged.

"Who knows, maybe an accomplice shot him?" I had my doubts about that, something someone else put into words.

"Killing him for failure, that's not an accomplice, that's whoever hired them" It was Kate. Caine nodded as I watched them talk it through, Torres watching quietly by my side.

"Maybe, I mean it makes some kind of sense" said Flynn, watching as Taylor crouched down by the open car door, peering in at the victim.

"Pretty cold though if it was" It was Caine. "Hire someone to do a job then kill them at close range when they fail. That's something I'd expect from the drug cartels back home" Taylor shrugged.

"Sounds more like something from a movie actually" He grimaced, "Point blank shot to the temple but you notice that it didn't exit the other side of the cranium" The others all moved to examine where he was pointing. Caine nodded sagely.

"You're thinking a hollow point?" Taylor nodded as Flynn and I exchanged looks, Kate was the first to speak.

"That'd do it, pass inside then basically stop, that'd explain the lack of an exit wound" I nodded to myself, it would also transfer the shock into the victim's brain, practically liquefying the brain mass.

"We do know someone for whom that sort of action would not be out of the ordinary" I commented, getting nods from several others; Provenza was the one to put it into words though.

"Simmonds is still at large and given his reputation, if what he's supposed to have done in Iraq and the stuff he's pulled here in LA is any guide, this kind of cold blooded murder is right up that son of a bitch's alley" I nodded as Caine spoke.

"Figure he found out where Wynter was being held and sent in expendable muscle to get him out of there" Kate pulled a face.

"Very, very expendable" You couldn't really argue with that. We called Maura and her team outside to where we were and stood around for a couple of minutes, discussing the next steps which included cross-matching the vic's blood with that retrieved from the coverall recovered from the cleaner's store in ICU, before I got a call from Natalie, asking where I was. I agreed to meet her back in ICU and ended the call, looking round.

"Well, I have to go face the media" I got a variety of rueful and sympathetic looks before Andy Flynn shrugged and spoke

"You and Natalie can have it Chief, personally I think I'd rather be shot at by suspects, at least then I can shoot back" I smiled tiredly as I looked at him.

"I suspect you're right, but no promises" With that I turned and headed back towards ICU, Kate still with me.

Ten minutes later, armed with a series of statements we'd agreed, I stood to one side behind a LAPD van, Kate holding a compact mirror for me as I fixed my makeup and got my hair settled while Nat gave me last minute advice.

"You'll be fine Brenda, do it like we practiced in training; walk in, give them the statement, answer four or five questions from the biggest networks then tell them you have to return to the investigation and I'll step in and divert them, okay" I gave her a rueful look.

"There is a reason I investigate murders and leave the media to you, you're good at it" She smiled reassuringly as she replied.

"You're pretty good yourself, but don't worry, I'll limit your exposure to the sharks" I nodded gratefully and, satisfied with my appearance, retrieved the mirror and dropped it and my makeup kit back in my bag which I handed off to Anastasia who was standing there watching us.

"Thank you Kate, Ana" They nodded as Ana replied.

"Anytime" I glanced at Natalie.

"Let's get this over with" I got a wide smile as she reiterated her advice.

"Short and sweet, in and out okay?" I nodded as I worked to get the butterflies under control as Natalie turned and walked out into the designated media point; as I watched the media converged on her, seemingly several hundred cameras and microphones focussed in on her as she was bathed in glaring light.

"Better her than me" I muttered, drawing a strained smile from Ana.

"Nat used to be nervous as hell when she started out back in Seattle, she's better now but she still gets nervous" I glanced her way, surprised.

"Really? She never seems anything but confident from what I've seen" Ana shrugged, watching as Natalie got the media calmed down.

"Oh she looks calm, but she's always worried she'll mess up and say something wrong, which will then go all over the world, these days with the net her mistake would be global and eternal, she hides it well but she's always a little nervous, especially with something as big as this, she's never handled anything like this before" I nodded, slightly reassured that it wasn't just me, making me wonder if Ana had said that for precisely that reason. Glancing at her I got a small smile before she spoke again. "That's your cue" I saw Natalie looking my way and took a breath before letting it out.

"I can do this" I muttered as Kate nodded once.

"You've got this Chief" I gave her a quick nod of thanks and, stepping forward around the truck, I walked into a solid, blinding wall of incredibly bright lights, unblinking camera lenses, out thrust microphones and a wall of shouted questions. Remembering my training I stepped up next to Natalie who took a half step back as I held my hand up, waiting for a little silence, it must have taken more than 20 seconds before everyone shut up enough to let me speak.

"Good afternoon, my name is Deputy Chief Johnson of the Los Angeles Police Department's Major Crimes section. I am leading the investigation into this afternoon's shocking attack here at Mercy General Hospital" I looked around and ignored the barrage of questions which stopped as I started up again.

"At approximately 12.10 this afternoon, four armed assailants attacked the Intensive Care Unit of Mercy General Hospital, apparently seeking to locate a suspect previously arrested in relation to a series of other crimes. That individual was not within ICU at that time and the assailants did not locate him" Shouting started up as I waited, not continuing until it died down, nervously chewing the inside of my cheek while I waited, hopefully projecting something like calm competence.

"The assailants had shot up the ICU area recklessly and indiscriminately, resulting in eight victims dead and well over a dozen wounded, including police, hospital staff and patients" As the shouting started I held my hand up and spoke, somewhat louder.

"I will be taking questions in a moment so please hold them until then" It seemed to work as it mostly died down. "LAPD officers responded quickly to the attack and all four offenders have been accounted for, three of them died from wounds received during the course of their actions here while another has been taken into custody" I looked around then back to the biggest knot of camera's ahead of me, remembering Natalie's training; focus on one place and talk to the people there, don't glance from camera to camera, it makes you look shifty and nervous and lord knows I couldn't afford that, not with everything that was happening here and the world watching us.

"In total the incident lasted some 24 minutes from the first attack to the situation being declared contained. I am now in a position to declare the situation over. The LAPD is now undertaking a thorough investigation into the attacker's motives, background and if they worked alone or with other, as yet, unknown parties"

I stopped and took a breath, it was intimidating knowing everything you said was being seen across the world, plus being watched by Pope, the Mayor and the Governor, all looking for faults, law enforcement people across the country and for all I knew, the President; it was quite frankly scary. Letting the breath out I ignored the shouting and looked round, speaking with a confidence I didn't feel, at all.

"I will now take questions"

 **Los Angeles Watts The Central Inn Motel**

"The op went sour" Simmonds stated. In response John's voice was uncharacteristically sour.

" _You could say that_ " Vic backed him up.

" _It's all over the news_ " Simmonds nodded, he was flipping across the channels, blanket coverage, it was on every station, either live crosses or anchors rehashing the details. He'd watched the cop's media woman giving statements, plus the Major Crimes woman, Johnson being interviewed. It was interesting to see what you were up against. She didn't look particularly scary but her rep said otherwise, plus she was ex-Agency, someone senior and operational, which was a flashing 'Don't Underestimate Me' neon sign right there.

" _What happened?_ " said Frank, giving him a chance to explain.

"The team ran into too many cops, plus Danny had been moved to another building just before they went in"

" _Fuck!_ "

" _Damn_ "

" _Christ_ "

" _And the assets?_ " It was Kurt.

"Two dead, the third in custody and I took care of the fourth" Ignoring the good news they honed in on the OpSec weakness.

" _Custody, that's…not good_ " It was John, Simmonds hastened to reassure him.

"The guy they have doesn't have my name, I'm just some Johnson that arranged the job and now I'm in the wind"

" _Assuming the cops have a dead end, and tell me he will end up dead…_ " Frank asked. Simmonds soothed Frank's concerns.

"He will, I'll get it arranged" He was silent for a second then continued. "Once he's out in the general prison population I'll arrange for him to be silenced" Mollified, Frank continued.

" _What next for Danny?_ " Simmonds frowned at Frank's question, he didn't have an immediate answer so he temporised.

"They'll move him to a prison hospital, if they haven't already" Vic kicked that on to its logical conclusion.

" _So he's out of our reach_ " Simmonds grimaced then paused as a thought came to him, a few seconds later, realising the others were waiting on his response he spoke up.

"We just have to have the right leverage to get him sprung"

" _And that is…?_ " asked Frank.

"Give me some time and I'll get back to you" Vic was the one to reply.

" _Soon man_ "

"It will be" With that Simmonds ended the call.


	65. Chapter 65

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **65 Consequences**

 **Los Angeles Mercy General Hospital**

Jane's viewpoint

"So the weapons were M4s, and the body armour they were wearing was standard US military issue as well?" At Liv's question Ana nodded tiredly as she replied, leaning back against the outside wall of the LAPD's command centre trailer, it had been brought in to allow us to move out of the way of the people in ICU, freeing them and us to concentrate on doing our jobs. The four of us had grabbed a coffee from one of the hospital's vendors and were catching up as we watched the still-buzzing hive of activity around us.

"Yeah, complete with all the mounting rails and attachment points for accessories like sights, NVG, underslung grenade launcher, you name it" She sighed, then exchanged a smile with Woody Hoyt as he walked past before continuing. "Definitely US Army issue, same as the body armour, it's standard issue too, right down to the current desert pattern cam" She sagged back a little against the trailer. "They're all brand new, straight off the production line, or out of Army stores maybe, they've never been issued and definitely not second hand"

"Will you be able to chase them down?" It was Kate. She got a shrug along with her answer.

"Maybe, it depends on how well they filed off the serial numbers, that's up to Maura's team" Ana smiled tiredly, we were all exhausted, it had been a long and tiring afternoon. "I had a look and they definitely tried erasing the serial numbers but the weapons were all new, I doubt they've been fired before today, they're too pristine, so we've got a missing weapons problem inside the military" I nodded.

"You're following that up I guess?" At my question she nodded tiredly before replying.

"Yeah, I've got a call into the Pentagon, and just in case they drag the chain, I put another call in to someone I know in the Judge Advocate General's office. One way or another, I'll get us answers" I nodded; when it came to her job Ana was nothing if not ruthlessly efficient.

"Is that your friend Mac you told us about?" Liv asked, Ana smiled gently and nodded once as she replied.

"Yep, that's her" Kate smiled tiredly, she was obviously weary, we all were, today had taken it out of us all, we'd been swamped by Federal agencies, plus all the local ones like the LAFD and County Sherriff's, on top of which the media riot out front wasn't showing any signs of calming down, explaining why Brenda was with Natalie prepping for her third appearance in front of the cameras this afternoon.

Natalie was pulling out all stops trying to keep the media beast under control, to that end Maura had already done a pool interview, one camera crew and one reporter who'd share the footage with everyone as she carefully explained the nature of the injuries the deceased had received and the scope of the forensics response. She'd been calm and reassuring which had been just what had been needed right now.

Ana had appeared in front of the cameras, wearing her FBI wind cheater and speaking on behalf of the Federal agencies, confirming the full resources of the Federal Government were working with the LAPD to ensure the people who carried out the attack and the people behind the attack were all brought to justice. The fact that she'd asked Ana to speak was a comment on how bad it was out there, given there was a senior bureau guy in Washington who hated her for putting his son in jail she didn't normally look for publicity, trying not to attract his attention, the guy's son may be out of jail now but his hate hadn't gone away.

As it was I'd never seen so many media in one place or Natalie ever look so harassed. Shaking my head a little and glad I was a cop, not a media person, and too low-level to be of any interest to the press pack, I sipped my coffee as Kate replied.

"Excellent, we really need to get a handle on this, I mean shooting up a damned hospital…" she trailed off as we nodded.

"Suggests they really wanted to get Wynter back" Liv stated, getting slow nods as I replied.

"Yeah, makes me wonder what exactly about him is so important that they'll do something so stupid" Kate looked over at me.

"Stupid, maybe" She shrugged. "Or desperate" Liv looked at us all.

"We'll find out soon enough, apparently the Chief and Alex are going to talk to him tomorrow" I smiled and spoke up.

"Alex's prosecuting Wynter?" I asked.

"Yeah" Liv said, drawing smiles from everyone even as Ana put it into words.

"Outstanding"

 **Los Angeles Watts The Central Inn Motel**

Simmonds sat back on the bed in his room and stared at the other wall, his mind turning over the situation they were in and what he could do to change it.

He'd watched a lot of the coverage from the hospital, much of it was a rehash, though he'd got to see the coroner speak, plus a Bureau spokesperson, he'd remembered seeing them both from coverage of that trial a few months back, the Bureau woman was ex-Army he recalled. The message he'd got was his crew had missed Danny, one of them was in custody and the investigation was continuing. Grimacing he turned the television off and turned off the light before laying back on the bed.

His first play had failed true, but that simply meant he'd have to try something else. In the meantime he'd get some rest and get something new started after a decent night's sleep.

The last thing that he thought of before he rolled over onto his side was that there were a lot of cops, including that Major Crimes team, who wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, all of which was all good, tired people made mistakes, mistakes he could exploit.

He fell asleep dreaming of plans to deal with the cops and spring Danny.

 **Los Angeles Central Jail Medical Wing**

He suppressed a groan as he moved around slightly on the standard-issue hospital bed they had here in the prison infirmary. He'd been in getting X-Rays when a bunch of cops showed up, edgy and nervous, it hadn't taken long for him to realise what had happened. He pulled a face, partly at the dull aches all over his body and partly at the crappy timing; just his luck that he'd been moved just before it all went down. When he was eventually moved out of the X-Ray room, they'd transported him down to a big LAPD armoured truck where he'd been driven away from the hospital, four SWAT guys in full gear watching over him. Now he was in the middle of a sprawling prison and his chances of getting out of here weren't real good.

He checked the clock then lay back and waited; waited for his pain medication and for help going to the can, maybe today he'd finally stop pissing diluted blood; waited for breakfast, he was hungry, and most importantly, waited for his lawyer to show up. She'd have a message from Simmonds, letting him know what had happened and what he was planning next.

 **Los Angeles LAPD car park**

Ana's viewpoint

I was just getting out of our MGB when the cell rang, the caller I.D. telling me it was Jennifer from the BAU.

"Hi JJ" I saw Nat's head turn a little at the name as Jennifer responded; she didn't beat around the bush.

"Hi Ana, I saw the news and we talked about your case during the morning meeting" I nodded as I made my way around the car to join Nat.

"Yeah, it was bad" JJ's voice conveyed her concern.

"It looked it. Anyway the team's consensus is that was the work of the other guy, not the leader, the killer" I nodded unconsciously at her words then filled her in on a bit more background.

""Yeah, we've got him tagged as an ex-Marine Special Forces guy named Justin Simmonds, he served in Iraq and we think that's where he met up with the others in the Cabal"

"Oh okay…" There was a pause, I could imagine her writing that down, every little bit helped in her profession. "Anyway we believe that we're seeing the first steps in a campaign to get him released. This…cabal you called it…their willingness to countenance civilian casualties points to a 'whatever it takes' mentality, basically they aren't going to stop" I fell into step with Nat, her hand finding mine, giving her a quick smile as we made our way towards the Parker Centre.

"You're not wrong, one of the attackers got away, but was apparently executed for the failure by someone…we think that was Simmonds' handiwork" There was a slight pause before Jennifer came back to me.

"Yeah, well that sure fits our initial profile and I'll get whatever we can find about this Justin Simmonds plugged into it, so if you could send me whatever you have on him already that'd be great, but basically, our analysis is they're not going to stop until they get what they want, no matter what's required" I nodded.

"Neither will we JJ, nether will we"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Morgue**

Temperance's viewpoint

I had been asked by Maura to oversee the investigation into the M4 weapons recovered from the hospital scene so with Booth's help I had disassembled each of them, keeping them carefully separate and maintaining the evidence chain. Examining each weapon I could easily discern where someone had taken a file to the serial numbers, attempting to hide the weapon's identity.

Fortunately they had not done more than blur the numbers, something that the right chemicals and technique could overcome. I set to preparing an appropriate acidic solution, enough to etch the original numbers but not so strong as to damage the numbers, a somewhat complex art but one I was comfortable with thanks to much familiarity. Maura walked in as I was about to start mixing the solution and she came to stand by me, watching raptly as I finished mixing the acid and then carefully applying it with a Q tip, working it carefully over the blurred numbers, asking questions as I worked.

For the next ten minutes I moved from one to the next then returned to wipe it away and then apply an ink-based solution which I carefully rubbed into the area, allowing the ink to slowly settle into the grooves. Maura continued to watch and occasionally asked questions, soaking up the knowledge as she did. Finally, finishing with the last, I stepped back and removed my face mask.

"We should give that a few more minutes and then observe if we can discern any of the numbers" Maura smiled happily at me.

"Excellent work Doctor, I am very pleased to have had the chance to see your technique and to see the results"

"Let's not get our hopes up yet Maura" I cautioned. "This method is not infallible, so let us see what we can find" She nodded and I turned to Seeley. "Have you been able to discern anything from the rifles?" He looked to me and smiled, drawing one from me in return before he explained.

"Romanov was right, these weapons are almost new, there's almost no wear on any of the components, I'd say none of them have fired more than 100 odd rounds tops" Maura nodded.

"That number would roughly equate to what we saw at the scene yesterday" He looked to her and nodded.

"Definitely, the bolt and trigger assembly are both almost pristine and there's almost no fouling whatsoever in the barrel, I'd bet this was the first time they'd ever been fired" I shook my head at that as Maura nodded and spoke.

"Our colleagues upstairs will be concerned that it appears the Cabal is able to source new military-issue automatic weapons" Booth nodded.

"Oh yeah" I levered myself off the bench and walked over towards the weapon components, carefully waving my hand to dispense any lingering fumes, before leaning over, grimacing at what I saw.

"Only three numbers and one letter are visible" I moved onto the next one, finding more success here. "We have almost all the serial number visible, missing only the last two numbers" Maura nodded, already moving to photograph the serial numbers with her phone.

"I'll send everything we have to Agent Romanov, she is eager to try and identify the source of these weapons" I nodded as I moved to check the weapon serial numbers on the last two weapons, one of them was completely visible, something I noted.

"This should make her job somewhat easier" Maura nodded and photographed the images then fiddled with her phone, no doubt forwarding the images to Romanov, before fetching a camera and shooting a selection of images of the serial numbers, no doubt for the evidence files, that done, she looked up at me, smiled and spoke.

"Could I ask you to present on the technique you have just demonstrated to our colleagues over a lunch? I am sure they will find it just as fascinating as I did and just as helpful" I glanced over at Booth and saw him leaning back against a cabinet behind Maura, he smiled broadly and gave me a thumbs up, obviously proud of me, making me smile as I looked to Maura.

"Of course, I would be happy to" The smile I got from Maura was a match for Booths.

"Wonderful, thank you Doctor, I appreciate it and I am sure our colleagues will as well"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

"Chief" I looked up to see Duquesne at my door and behind her everyone was up and moving, obviously something was up. "Khan's got a location on Simmonds, he's checked into the Central Inn Motel in Watts using the same Larry Bond name and credit card he hired that rental car from LAX with" I stood and reached for my bag, automatically checking that I had my gun and badge.

"Excellent, get one of the team to arrange uniformed backup, Simmonds gave us the slip last time, let's make sure we've got an airtight cordon around the site this time" She nodded and moved quickly, grabbing Mikki and Khan who paused and conferred for a second before Mikki started a call as I joined the exodus for the elevators and the car park.

Forty minutes later we were ready to go in. We'd already confirmed the rental car wasn't on the premises but that could mean anything or nothing so we weren't taking chances, everyone was in vests as we prepared to enter. Several people were all for kicking to door in but I'd asked the building manager for the key, pointing out this way we were likely to do less damage, something the hotel manager had rapidly agreed was a good thing. I handed the key off to Jane and she'd crouched down, slowly and carefully inserting it as quietly as possible and then nodded, turning the door handle and throwing the door back as the rest of us swarmed in, the air filled with shouts of 'Police' and 'LAPD'.

All to no avail, the room was empty, though there were signs of someone having been here, there were clothes in a suitcase, toiletries in the bathroom and best of all two spare cell phones in their original boxes, found inside his bag. I looked around.

"He may not be here, but let's get forensics onto this room" I got nods even as I turned to Khan. "Detective, I want to know where these phones came from and who sold them and to who? Understand?" I got a bobbing nod.

"Yes Chief, I will start as soon as I get back" I looked around the team.

"Good job people, we've been reacting to Simmonds, now he's reacting to us"

"So what's the next move Chief?" It was Caine.

"Now we put this place under surveillance…" I smiled. "…and hope Mister Simmonds wanders into our clutches" I checked my watch; time was getting away from me. "Something I, unfortunately, won't be able to take care of" I looked around the room and spotted Provenza and Flynn near the door. "Lieutenant Provenza, would you be good enough to take charge of that please?" He looked my way and nodded as I looked around, taking everyone in. "I have an appointment with Mister Wynter, which should be…interesting" Mikki nodded.

"That's one way to describe it"

 **Los Angeles Watts**

Simmonds eyes widened as he turned the corner to approach the motel after a long gym session to clear his mind, seeing Black and Whites and cops everywhere. He snarled to himself for a second, almost turning back before coming to a swift decision, turning around and driving away would only attract their attention, so instead he casually drove past, slowing down with the rest of the traffic as they rubbernecked, taking in the scene, from the street he could see plain-clothed cops moving in and out of his room, turning away with a snarl and driving on, stamping down on his rage and just a little fear.

'So close' he thought then smiled to himself in relief. They'd missed and he'd be damned if he'd give them another chance.

 **Los Angeles Central Jail Medical Wing**

Alex's viewpoint

We walked into the room to see Wynter sitting up in his bed, his lawyer standing nearby and two corrections officers standing near the door. Brenda nodded to Liv and Jane who took up positions on each wall as we came to a stop a few feet from Wynter. There were no extra chairs in here, little of anything really, a couple of cabinets bolted to the wall, limiting the amount of makeshift weapons available that a prisoner might try and use.

"Good afternoon Mister Wynter, I trust you're finding your new accommodations to your taste" Wynter glared daggers back at her but said nothing, drawing a small smile from Brenda as she introduced herself. "My name is Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson of the LAPD, in charge of the investigation into you and your associates" she turned slightly to nod towards Jane and Liv. "And I'm sure you recognise your arresting officers" I knew their particular presence wasn't a coincidence as Wynter's scowl deepened even as Brenda turned back and indicated me, my cue to speak up.

"I am Deputy District Attorney Alex Cabot, representing the County of Los Angeles, I will be prosecuting your case" Wynter looked to Irene Simms who stepped forward.

"I am Mister Wynter's attorney of record, Irene Simms" She looked from Brenda to me. "I understand that you have requested this meeting, may I ask exactly what charges you will be bringing?" I smiled as Brenda and I had already discussed this on the drive over.

"At this point, in addition to the previous charges of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and so forth, we are looking at criminal conspiracy resulting in the deaths of two people and grievous bodily harm to a third person" I said, drawing a frown from Simms and a question.

"What conspiracy?"

"Your client was involved with Justin Simmonds in a series of bombings at the Sheraton several days ago" I placed my briefcase down on the floor and folded my hands in front of my skirt. "So far we have a number of deaths that we can conclusively tie to Mister Simmonds and through him to Mister Wynter" The denial was automatic.

"My client had no knowledge of whatever this Justin Simmonds may or may not have done" I shrugged.

"That will be for a jury to decide Miss Simms" I smiled coldly as Brenda took up the conversation.

"That's before we get to undertake a full and complete investigation into Mister Wynter's other affairs" She crossed her arms as she regarded Wynter. "I am certain that if we dig hard and deep enough, all sorts of other rotten dealings will come to light, won't they Mister Wynter?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about" Wynter snarled as Brenda smiled coolly.

"I'm sure you do Mister Wynter, but rest assured, I will get to the bottom of every rotten little scheme you've been running and by the time I'm finished, you will be spending the rest of your life waiting to die of old age on death row" Simms inserted herself back into the conversation.

"That will require more than idle threats Miss Johnson, it will require evidence, something that it seems you have very little of at this point" Brenda spared her a glance.

"I assure you Miss Simms that will be just a matter of time" She looked to Wynter. "If you're looking to your friend Mister Simmonds to succeed in freeing you, I can assure you your hopes are misplaced" She tipped her head to regard him. "He only just escaped from us at your house and we barely missed him at his motel this morning, you can rest assured that we will catch him" Wynter had a lock on his face; he didn't react as I took over.

"And if we can tie his other activities here in Los Angeles to you, I will take great pleasure in prosecuting you as an accomplice to numerous homicides" I said, drawing a riposte from Simms.

"Enough with the threats already, it seems to me you have a lot of guesswork but nothing tangible" Brenda smiled.

"Our investigation into Mister Wynter's life has only begun Miss Simms, we'll have plenty to charge him with in the days and weeks to come" I looked from Simms and spoke directly to Wynter.

"And if you were hoping to get bail Mister Wynter, a piece of advice. After your would-be rescuers shot up the hospital and left eight people dead in their wake, I'd forget any hopes of bail; you are staying here until you are well enough to be assigned a cell in solitary, where you will remain up until I can have you arraigned on the current charges and others that are likely to flow from your actions and those of your associate Simmonds"

"My client knew nothing of that" Simms interjected, drawing a cold smile from me and a head shake from Brenda as she replied.

"Perhaps, perhaps not, but they killed eight people while attempting to retrieve him, which just makes you all the more interesting to me Mister Wynter" She stared down at him. "By the time I am finished with you Mister Wynter, I will have disassembled your life and will know everything about you and what you've done, you can rest assured about that"

"Good luck with that" he said, drawing a smile from Brenda.

"I don't need luck Mister Simmonds, I have an outstanding team of investigators and they make their own luck, as both you and your friend Simmonds have discovered"

"Both you bitches can go fuck yourself" he snarled, I exchanged a resigned look with Brenda as I spoke.

"Same-same, never anything new" She nodded and looked to Wynter.

"I will remind you Mister Wynter, that within a couple of days of our investigation commencing we found you, with a little more time I can assure you that there is nothing we won't uncover"

"Go fuck yourselves" I glanced over at Liv and smiled as Brenda replied.

"No thank you Mister Wynter, I have someone for that, while I doubt you will ever get to enjoy that particular pastime ever again" Her smile turned nasty. "Unless you can arrange something with your cell mates" Wynter went to say something but Simms stepped in.

"If that is all you have to say, I suggest you leave, my client and I need to talk" I nodded.

"Oh, we'll go, but we're not finished with your client Counsellor, not by a long shot" Brenda backed me up.

"We'll be seeing you again Mister Wynter, real soon" She smiled. "Don't go running off anywhere, hear" Ignoring his snarl and Simms's red-faced anger we turned and left. As we made our way along the corridor I glanced at Brenda.

"I think it's safe to say Simms has no real idea of the type of client she is defending" Brenda was about to say something when Jane spoke up.

"She takes his dime, she can hardly complain about his crimes" Brenda nodded.

"All too true"

 **Los Angeles East Los Angeles**

He'd parked his car in a shopping centre car park halfway across LA from Watts and spent some time in a coffee shop thinking it through, trying to understand how the cops had moved so quickly. The only thing he kept coming back to was the rental, he'd needed a new set of wheels and he'd gone to LAX without really thinking, a bad lapse of OpSec he ruefully realised, one that had come back to bite him on the ass hard. He had grimaced into his empty coffee cup and pushed up from his chair, time to fix that.

He'd emptied the 'Larry Bond' account from a couple of ATM's before consigning him to dumpster, then headed to a security storage area where one of his favoured back up identities, 'John Wayne', had rented a small secure storage area. Inside he had stashed the rest of the RDX, a few crates of weapons, ammunition and armour plus a couple of bags, one of which contained a couple of sets of identification; each containing a drivers licence, passport and credit cards, all brand new and waiting for use, sorting through he'd retrieved one of them, 'John Birmingham' and shuffled the cards into his wallet and the passport into his coat pocket.

That done, he'd locked up, then driven the rental to an open air car park, left the windows down and the keys in it and walked away, hopefully it'd be stolen soon enough, killing that connection.

Now he was on the third hotel and the third ID in almost as many days, causing him to shake his head; the local cops were turning out to be monumental pains in the ass and annoying as hell. He'd never had anywhere near the same issues with cops anywhere else, but these guys... Well, they'd had their chance and he wasn't going to give them another

His first order of business had been new wheels, so 'John Birmingham' had headed for a second-hand car yard and bought a high-mileage old Ford Taurus for cash, nondescript in an ugly sort of way, the sort of car no one looked at twice. He'd then checked into another two star hotel, this one out in Pacoima, a long way from Watts, before wandering out and buying a few essentials, toiletries, clothes and a few new burner phones from one of his regular suppliers, one who knew how to keep his mouth shut in return for cash.

Now, with all that completed, he lay back on the bed and thought long and hard about his next plan of action, he had work to do and the cops weren't going to keep him from it.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Mikki's viewpoint

"Chodra!"

I looked over at the muttered Hindi curse, one I'd learned from Ahmed, seeing him frowning darkly at his screen.

"What's up?" He looked my way; I could see the tension in his eyes and hear it in his voice.

"The accounts in the name of Larry Bond have been emptied. Several ATMs in East Los Angeles were used in the last 30 minutes to empty the accounts, up to the daily limit anyway, but they are now mostly empty" I nodded, pulling a face as I understood what he meant.

"We've been tumbled" At his look of confusion I explained. "Means we've been discovered" He nodded.

"Yes, it looks as if Simmonds is aware we have identified his current assumed identity and has emptied them in anticipation of dumping that identity and opening a new one" My response was in Spanish, but meant exactly the same thing.

"Cabron!"

 **Los Angeles Pacoima** **The Jay Motel**

He sat back and listened to the message from Danny, he'd had two visitors today, the Major Crimes woman, Johnson, and the woman prosecuting him Alex Cabot. The name rang a bell and he Googled her on his phone when the message was finished, his eyes widening at the first class piece of ass in a tailored suit that appeared. She was a top flight prosecutor, first in New York, more lately out here; she'd been the one from the trial of those crooked cops.

He put the phone down, thinking over the message again. The cops definitely knew about the bombing, how he had no idea. They also seemed to be sniffing about their merchandise trade, suggesting unspecified 'other charges', the only other thing of consequence that Danny and the rest were involved with was that, signalling big changes coming.

With that he sent out a series of text messages, arranging another teleconference in 15 minutes, with the call set up he waited on the others ringing in while thinking back over the mess they were in. Honestly he'd agreed to the operation because he thought it had a good chance of taking one or maybe two of the cops they'd had trouble with out of the game. Instead the LA cops had moved almost ridiculously quickly; they'd made the link from the job to Danny so fast, faster than he'd been able to kill off the connections.

He grimaced, based on what he was going to tell the others, their lucrative little scheme was going to come to an end, not immediately but it had a use-by date that was rapidly approaching. That meant his time here was coming to an end as well, not that he minded, men with his mindset, contacts, experience and skillset were never unemployed for long. A beep on the phone announced the first caller, it was Frank, the others followed over the next thirty seconds, once they were all were on the call he started them off, not beating around the bushes.

"The cops have somehow tied Danny to the bombings, plus they suspect your merchandise operation and that he's involved somehow" There was a chorus of curses before John dragged them back on topic.

" _How the fuck did they make that connection?_ " Simmonds shrugged, he was still trying to work that one out.

"Don't know, what I do know is that he's been questioned by the cops about the bombing, they definitely know he was involved in that, even if they don't have a definitive link yet" I paused to let that sink in then pushed on with the really bad news. "The merchandise operation seems like it's a lot less sure, they sniffed around it but haven't said anything conclusive yet"

" _And you know this how?_ " It was Vic.

"I've got a contact inside the LAPD, plus I've got his lawyer recording messages from Danny and sending them as attachments to a burner phone, I get messages to him the same way"

" _That lawyer's a weak link_ " said Vic. " _Can we be sure he won't talk to the cops?_ " Simmonds nodded unconsciously.

"Yeah, I paid her a visit; she's got kids so I put the fear of god into her and she's smart enough to keep her mouth shut"

" _I assume you take them out of play once this is done?_ " At Frank's comment Simmonds nodded again.

"Yeah, already planned it out"

" _What's the chance of springing Danny?_ " Kurt dragged them back to the main game as Simmonds pursed his lips in thought then replied.

"Honestly, he's in the prison hospital at the moment, until he's ready to be discharged into the general prison population, he's been told no bail, plus they've already told him he'll be staying in solitary until the trial, our chances of getting him out via direct action are basically non-existent" There was silence for a few seconds before John spoke up.

" _So what's the plan?_ "

"We have to find some other leverage, something we can trade for Danny"

" _Big call man, what you got in mind?_ " asked John, getting a couple of agreeable noises down the phone.

"I don't know yet" Simmonds said. "I'm still looking for a weak point we can leverage, once I find it I'll use it" There was another silence before Kurt spoke.

" _Given the cops are sniffing round our operation we may need to start thinking about folding our tent and vanishing into the night_ "

" _You think?_ " said Frank, backed up by Vic.

" _They have suspicions, apparently nothing concrete_ " Kurt was unimpressed.

" _Think guys, the cops have moved rapidly without any sign of how they linked Danny to the network. I don't know about you but I don't want the first idea I have that they've learnt about me being a SWAT team kicking in my door_ " There was a thoughtful silence at that as Simmonds smiled grimly, Kurt was the most pessimistic, or as he put it, realistic, of the group, he'd be the first to bug out rather than stay with a sinking ship. " _Think about it guys okay?_ " Kurt implored them, " _I want to be drinking tequila on a beach in South America with you guys, not sitting in a prison facing life inside or worse_ " Frank was the first to speak, after all he lived in a death penalty state.

" _I'll think it over_ " Kurt jumped back in.

" _I not saying we bug out immediately, just that we start moving money out of the country over the next few weeks, I mean we have time, we just have to be prepared to move when we have to_ " Simmonds smiled, he'd already moved the majority of his personal wealth offshore, buried in stocks and bonds and gold in vaults in multiple countries, none of which had an extradition treaty with the states. He dragged the conversation back onto the subject.

"In the meantime, I'll see what I can do to spring Danny"

There was general agreement at that as the call ended.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Café**

I was standing in line waiting for a coffee when my cell rang, seeing the Washington area prefix come up as I answered it.

"Special Agent Romanov" A female voice, sounding young answered.

"Lieutenant Lee from the Pentagon here, ringing about your enquiry" I took a step forward as the line moved.

"Thanks for getting back to me, what did you find about those M4s?"

"Not much, according to the DoD database, they are not our weapons, those serial numbers are not in our inventory" I frowned.

"We talked to the manufacturer; they confirmed that those weapons were part of a shipment to the military about eleven months ago"

"They must have things all mixed up, cause according to our records those weapons were never a part of our inventory" I frowned, Lieutenant Lee wasn't getting it.

"The serial numbers matched, and they have to be our weapons, according to the manufacturer, that serial number series is reserved for production runs for the US military, plus they're in our desert cam and have all the Picatinny rails for mounting attachments, plus the hard points for an underslung grenade launcher, that's not civilian issue anywhere in the US"

"I don't know what their problem is Agent Romanov, but all I can tell you is that they're not our guns, we have no records" I sighed.

"Did you check the depot they were delivered to? Maybe they have a record" The Lieutenant was getting a little exasperated.

"No need, they were never part of our inventory, so it looks like a mistake at the manufacturer's end, not ours"

"Lieutenant, are you trying to tell me that you don't think the Army's inventory system makes mistakes?" I asked, trying to keep the incredulity out of my voice, it sounded like I had a very young shave-tail Lieutenant on the other end. Before I could continue she spoke.

"All I can tell you is that it's not our problem, sorry I couldn't help you, but you'll have to look somewhere else" I was about to reply when she continued. "Anyway, good luck with your problem"

I was left listening to her ring off even as the line moved ahead one more place. I frowned darkly at the phone before coming to a decision. I opened the phone's directory and sorted through to 'G', for a moment almost feeling sorry for what was about to descend on that little Lieutenant, before shrugging it off, she'd brought this on herself. Hitting the call button I lifted the phone to my ear.

"Gibbs" At his voice I smiled, a little maliciously.

"Hi Gibbs, its Ana, how are you?"

"Hey Ana, I'm good, how are you and Nat doing?"

"We're good thanks, but I need a favour, it's something that concerns the military, and it needs your personal touch."

"I'm listening…"

 **Los Angeles Pacoima** **The Jay Motel**

Simmonds picked up one of his burner phones, he'd become a damned sight more careful since this whole mess had broken open, rarely using a burner for more than a day or two. Fortunately he had enough and could get more easily.

After confirming the number he placed a call to Bogotá, the person at the other end was commendably cautious.

" _Hello?_ " Simmonds didn't bother identifying himself, they knew each other.

"I have a job for you"

" _Good to hear from you too_ "

"Yeah, been busy, anyway are you up for a job?"

" _If the pays good, always, what is it?_ "

"I need a cop up here in LA taken out of play, you in?"

" _A cop? Shouldn't be any problem; who it is exactly, anyone special?_ "

"LAPD Deputy Chief, a woman named Johnson" There was a pause for a few seconds at the other end.

" _Oh okay, I've heard of her, she's on the shit list of a few people here and in Mexico too, they really don't like her much. How soon are we talking about?_ "

"As soon as you can get a team up here" There was silence on the other end of the phone as Simmonds idly wondered about the risks of their conversation being intercepted by the Echelon system, pretty small he decided, they hadn't used any of the most common search terms, like bomb, jihad, suicide, cocaine and so on. He mentally shrugged; some things he couldn't control.

" _I can have a team on the ground in around 24 hours_ " Simmonds was impressed, that was fast, all the way from Columbia. " _Do they need to bring their own gear or you supplying?_ "

"I can supply M4s, ammo and body armour"

" _That'll do; we can have them contact you in around 24 hours_ " Simmonds nodded, impressed.

"What's the bill?" The voice on the other end was unrepentant.

" _Two million_ " Simmonds mentally winced but then shrugged; it wasn't as if they couldn't afford it.

"Deal, twenty five per cent in advance, the rest on completion"

" _Yeah, that works, you got a safe email?_ " Simmonds nodded and passed it over the phone. " _You'll get a bank account number soon…once the advance is transferred we'll be on our way_ "

"Will do, I'll try and get a location set up for your little party"

" _Done, call me in 24 hours and I'll confirm everything and get the team in touch with you_ " With that the call ended.

Simmonds sat back, honestly he didn't expect much, Johnson was a 'high value target' in the parlance, she'd probably be well protected and; from the look of that video he'd seen of the street shootout, by people who knew what they were doing. With any luck she'd be killed, but even if she survived it would provide a useful distraction from his real target.

With that in mind he placed a second call, to people he trusted to get that job done right.

" _Hello?_ "

"It's Simmonds"

" _Hey man, how you been, I saw the news…_ "

"Yeah, look, I've got a job for you, it pays well, really well, plus it'll help get Danny out of the cop's claws" There was silence for a few seconds.

" _Okay, what do we got to do?_ "

Simmonds smiled.

Chodra = Fucker (Hindi)

Cabron = Fucker (Spanish)


	66. Chapter 66

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **66 Response and Retribution**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I'd just finished getting a quick update from the team on where they were on their various investigations into the Mercy General attack, to find Alex had arrived and was leaning against a desk, waiting for me to finish, her presence reminding me that the surviving attacker from the hospital raid was in Interrogation Room 1. He'd recovered sufficiently from his comparatively minor injuries, that the Doctors had cleared him to talk and he was waiting for us.

Recovered didn't mean healed though, he'd already taken shotgun pellets in the face during the fire fight in the hospital and that was before he'd taken a heck of a beating from the two uniformed officers who'd overpowered and arrested him, not that anyone particularly cared given what he'd been doing at the time. Instead both officers were up for commendations for tackling an armed offender and subduing him with their bare hands at great personal risk. I looked to Alex and smiled.

"Shall we go have a chat with our suspect?" She looked up from where she was checking mail on her phone and spoke.

"I wonder what his lawyer's told him, perhaps we can disabuse him of any hope he might have of walking anytime soon" she said as I nodded.

"It might rattle him enough to try and cut a deal, it can't hurt to see what he says"

We wandered out, collecting Beckett and Duquesne and headed into Interrogation, finding our suspect waiting, sitting at the desk, handcuffed wrists visible on the table. We'd confirmed via fingerprints that his name was Tony Ryerson, ex-Marine Corps, ex-Iraq and with a long rap sheet of minor crimes since, he'd been a suspect in a range of major crimes but evidence had always been scanty, now though that wasn't an issue, we had him dead to rights and his lawyer, a public defender named Singh, must know it.

We took our seats as Calleigh and Kate took up positions on each of the side walls, I laid the folder of information I had on Ryerson down and opened it, scanning the information there, not that I needed too, I'd already read it several times, instead it was all part of the theatre of the interrogation. Apparently finished I looked up, taking in the well-built man opposite me, seeing the numerous contusions and scrapes, where they weren't covered by bandages and sticking plaster, the left side of his face was more bandages than skin, he'd been lucky not to lose an eye from the shotgun's pellets that had peppered his face..

"Mister Ryerson, I am Deputy Chief Johnson of the Los Angeles Police Department, let me be blunt, you are going away for life for participation in the attack on Mercy General Hospital which saw eight people killed. As you are the only surviving member of the crew who carried out that attack, you will wear the rap for all of it" Singh jumped in.

"My client will contest many of the charges being brought against him" I smiled sardonically at that; we both knew he was bluffing, so ignoring his lawyer I directed my comments to Ryerson.

"Mister Ryerson, I'm here to inform you that you have two options, the first is that you cooperate with our investigations and you might get out of a jail cell walking, or don't and if you're very, very lucky you might leave in a wheelchair" His lawyer, Harbinder Singh, injected himself back into the conversation.

"Chief Johnson, there's no need to threaten my client" I threw him a cheery smile as I replied.

"I'm not threatening your client Mister Singh, simply explaining the options available to him, the choice he makes is up to him" Singh smiled politely.

"Perhaps we might be able to come to an arrangement Chief, one where my client might share some information that he may have come into possession of inadvertently, but what exactly are you offering in return?" I waved that away with a gesture.

"It's very simple Mister Singh, if your client cooperates he will spend the rest of his life in jail, with the chance, a small chance but a chance nonetheless, of parole after 25 years" I watched as Singh face dropped and Ryerson's tightened.

"That's your offer?" Singh shook his head. "You must be joking?"

"The alternative is death row when the state asks for the death penalty and guess what applies in this case?" I turned to where Alex was sitting next to me. "I'll let DDA Cabot explain that" I said, getting a nod as she faced Ryerson.

"Your attorney knows me Mister Ryerson but you don't, so let me introduce myself, I'm Deputy District Attorney Cabot, and I represent the Los Angeles County, I'll be the one prosecuting you in court for eight counts of murder" She raised an eyebrow. "Your lawyer here may not have explained everything to you so please let me" Alex clasped her hands on the table in front of her and leaned forward, her voice cold.

"You are facing murder charges; that's a serious enough offence, but when we add the special circumstance of the death of a police officer, that's a whole different ball game altogether" I nodded slowly as Alex continued. "A special circumstance is one that requires the State to call for, and the court has no choice but to grant, the death penalty to a person convicted of murder if special circumstances apply. One of those special circumstances is the murder of a police officer" I stepped back into the conversation for a moment.

"The death of Officer Cavalla in your ham-fisted attempt to retrieve Danny Wynter is murder; in the eyes of the law, you committed that murder" Ryerson leaned back away from the table, probably subconsciously trying to back away from responsibility too, something his words confirmed.

"But I didn't kill that cop, that was someone else" Singh held up his hand, warning him to say nothing, Alex however was unmoved.

"You can also be convicted of special circumstances murder in California even if you didn't personally kill someone" Her voice was cool and unemotional as she laid it out. "The law makes it possible for people to receive the death penalty or life in prison under California's Penal Code for aiding and abetting a murder, as long as one of the special circumstances applies" She tipped her head as she regarded Ryerson then continued. "Which as we have already determined applies here in your case" Singh leaned forward.

"My client would like to make a deal, but we want the death penalty off the table, and no special circumstances either to tie the judge's hands, we want time served, with parole on the table"

"Oh Mister Singh, you seem to think your client has much in the way of options, but I am here to tell you right now he does not" Alex said, shaking her head then looked to me. I too shook my head as I eyed Ryerson off across the table.

"Your client took part in an armed raid, shooting up a hospital for heaven's sake, during which a police officer and four hospital staff and three patients died and seven police and eleven other staff members and patients were wounded. Your client is the only individual from that botched attack remaining alive. The court and the people of California frown upon attacks on hospitals, let alone the deaths of police officers, so your client's not escaping that"

"Then we have nothing to talk about" Singh said but I smiled slightly, tossing them a lifeline.

"I think we do actually" He eyed us warily then spoke slowly.

"Go on" I nodded and continued.

"Your client here was responsible for the death of a police officer…" Singh broke in.

"Indirectly responsible" Alex's voice was cold as ice.

"Good luck trying to sell that to a jury when I'm prosecuting Mister Ryerson, you'll need it, plus a better class of lawyer" Ignoring Singh' sudden flush I nodded and pressed on.

"That attack was to free a man who was involved in setting up and running a major kidnapping, sex slavery and trafficking ring that saw young people captured and shipped across the country to the worst possible fates imaginable" Singh was all over that.

"My client had no involvement in that whatsoever" I shrugged, noting Alex doing the same as I pressed on.

"I won't have to say that, the media will, and the jury will as well" I waved that issue away with my hand as I continued. "You tried to free that man and eight people died"

"Special circumstances Mister Ryerson" Alex interposed as I nodded.

"So your client is going to jail for a very, very long time Mister Singh" I looked across at Ryerson. "If your client wants any sort of mitigation of his sentence, well that will need real cooperation, enough so that it might, might mind you, influence the judge to offer some sort of leniency"

"What sort of cooperation?" Singh asked.

"We want to know who hired him, where, when, how, how much, everything, from start to finish, so I have something to give the judge" Singh looked to Ryerson then back at us.

"I'll have to talk with my client" I shared a look with Alex before she spoke.

"Life on death row without parole is the starting offer, if you want to reduce that to 25 to life, then impress upon your client that he needs to impress us Mister Ryerson" She shrugged and sat back "That is the offer" With that I flipped the folder shut and looked across the table.

"I wouldn't take too long Mister Ryerson, if we catch the person I think was behind this, then your worth and that of any information you might have devalues faster than a coin knock off" I smiled pleasantly, belied by my words.

"Think it over, but don't think too long, 'cause a life sentence without parole is waiting for you" With that we left, leaving them behind and walked out, Calleigh and Kate following us as we made our way up the corridor, Alex looked my way and smiled.

"He'll talk, two days max" I nodded.

"Probably a lot less actually" Calleigh broke in from behind us.

"It's scary how much you two think alike" I looked over my shoulder at her and smiled.

"How can you not when you love your work?" I saw Kate smile as Alex held her fist out, I gently bumped it as she looked me in the eyes.

"Amen"

 **Los Angeles Pacoima The Jay Motel**

He sat back, thinking his way through a plan. The Columbian's were due in town this evening and he had no intention of having them sit around on their asses drinking coffee. That meant finding a way to get them and Johnson in the same place. He needed to lure her somewhere out of the cop's headquarters, into the open where the Columbian's could try an ambush. If he found the right place and they were good enough, they might even survive it and escape, but that wasn't his concern, as long as they did their job.

He thought about it for a moment then smiled as inspiration hit. The cops had tracked him down to the motel in Watts, to do that they'd tracked the car rental at LAX; no doubt they'd connected the rental to a credit card then connected the card to his hotel room, leading them right to him. He'd dumped the rental car after the cops raided the motel, but he still had the credit card number in his phone so he could use it for paying online bills. If he used that to book a room in a suitable hotel, the cops would see that pretty quickly and converge on it, including Johnson, from what he'd seen she was a pretty 'hands on, lead from the front' type. With a little luck he'd be able to use that trait against her.

For that though he'd need another run out to his storage area, he needed some RDX to prepare an appropriate surprise for the cops, plus weapons, body armour and ammo for the Columbians. He'd do that this afternoon.

That led to the second part of his plan and for that he needed times and addresses. He was paying his contact in the LAPD Records section good money for the information he'd supplied so far, but now was the time to turn the screws, he needed those addresses and that greedy little mole was going to get it for him. He didn't expect too much difficulty, Simmonds was familiar with his type of informant, offer someone like that a little more money, mix it in with a threat to let what he'd done become public if the guy decided to rediscover his conscience and he'd fold, they always did.

With that he smiled a little cynically and reached for his cell.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Executive Floor**

Ana's viewpoint

I was heading back to my office as I idly wondered, not for the first time, where they'd moved the brooms and mops that probably resided there before they squeezed me in; it was pretty tight, when my cell rang. Fishing it out I could see it was Gibb's calling.

"Hey Gibbs, how are you doing?"

"Good thanks Ana" He didn't waste time on pleasantries, telling me this was a business call. "I had a talk to that dumb Army Lieutenant and she handed over what little she had, which wasn't much" I nodded, I'd feared as much. "We contacted the depot that the M4 shipment was delivered to and they recorded it as being received, but not disbursed, so theoretically they should still be in storage out there" I smiled thinly.

"Theoretically" Gibbs voice was as sceptical as mine.

"Theoretically, yeah, funny that. So I 'encouraged' them to conduct a physical inventory and surprise, they weren't there"

"No paper trail?"

"Not at first glance, I'd like to get one of my people out there to assist with their records search, but I really can't stomp into an Army base and expect cooperation" I nodded, Gibbs was capable of doing an awful lot in the Marine Corps and the Navy as an NCIS team leader, but the other services; not so much.

"Would it help if I could get you some top cover for your request to assist?"

"Depends how high the cover is" he said, drawing a smile.

"A friend of mine is a senior officer in the JAG, they can ask their Army counterpart to request the physical inventory and authorise your guy's participation" Gibb's voice was curious.

"Interesting, how senior are we talking about?"

"Colonel Sarah Mackenzie" The surprise came through in his voice.

"Shit, I know her, she's a good operator, in fact I hear she's supposed to have a promotion coming soon, she's done some good work on running down corrupt practices with the Navy's financial systems" He paused. "How do you know her?" I smiled at the idea of Mac getting a promotion, after a career of successfully prosecuting dangerous, high-profile cases she deserved it.

"We were roomies together ages ago in DC when we were both posted there, both of us a lot younger, we got back in touch after we moved to LA and she's been out to visit us here" I explained.

"That's great, look, if you can get her to talk to her Army counterpart that'd open the doors we need" I nodded as I arrived at my door.

"Will do, I'll call her as soon as I get off this call"

"Okay then I won't keep you, ask her to drop me a line and we'll take it from here" I pushed the door back and manoeuvred around my desk to my chair.

"Thanks Gibbs, I appreciate it"

"Not a problem, I get to screw over a bunch of army pukes, at the request of another army puke, well ex-army puke, life's good" I chuckled and gave him the most appropriate reply.

"Fuck you Leroy" His laugh was quick and light, like his reply.

"Nah, I can't see that happening" I sat behind my desk and shook my head.

"Me neither, chat soon"

"Bye" Ending the call I smiled fondly and shook my head again, then opened the directory, flipping through to M and scrolling down to Mackenzie, Sarah before tapping her name.

Flipping my hair out of the way I brought the phone to my ear as it rang.

"JAG, this is Colonel Mackenzie" I smiled.

"What's this rumour I've heard that the service's run out of halfway-competent lawyers and they're going to promote you?" The smile in her voice was easily heard.

"Ana hi! There's nothing official, just I'm supposed to front the promotion boards for consideration"

"You've got it in the bag Mac" I smiled. "Then you can boss Harm around even more" I said, referring to her husband.

"Doesn't matter, even on a Brigadier's pay, I'm still earning way less than he is as a top flight civilian lawyer" I chuckled at that.

"Ah, the joys of military service"

"Tell me about it" She paused. "So what's happening out there? And how is Natalie?"

"She's fine, we're both good, but I'm in the middle of a really bad case with military connections and could really use your help" Sarah's response was immediate, bringing another fond smile to my face.

"What do you need?"

 **Los Angeles Culver City Westfield Shopping Mall**

He looked around the four men sitting at the table with him in the food court, all calm and composed, not surprising, these men were killers pure and simple, rising through the Columbian street gangs before being inducted into the cartel, they'd proven willing to use lethal force against any target ordered, without hesitation or qualm; men, women or children, it didn't matter to them.

After that killing a police officer, even a high ranking one on US soil, was just another job. He'd worked with them before, years before, and had been impressed by their ruthlessness and a little appalled by their indiscriminate use of firepower.

"I'm arranging for her to be at a specific place and time so you get a shot at her, but you should be aware she won't be alone" The leader, Jorje, shrugged.

"We have done this many times, most of the policia, they will be too busy hiding to do anything, by the time they react, we will be gone, the target dead" Simmonds frowned, these people were too used to dealing with their local, poorly trained, poorly-paid and shell-shocked police, a situation that wasn't true here, something he tried to warn them of.

"Don't discount her people, they are all experienced and some of them have combat experience, in the military or fire fights on the streets, they should not be underestimated" he warned. Getting an unconcerned shrug from Jorje, the others didn't even show that, just looking around the mall, taking note of the crowds flooding through the place, it was why he'd suggested meeting here; the mall was so large and so busy that they were just more anonymous faces in the thronging crowds.

"It does not matter, if they get in the way we kill them, if they hide, they might live, but this woman Johnson, she will be dead" Simmonds nodded, what else could he do? These men weren't listening, their arrogance and experience overriding their caution and his advice. He thought of saying more, but decided he was wasting his breath. He'd watched that YouTube video of the gang ambush of Johnson and the others, several times, and the footage of the cops had shown they weren't pushovers, the two dark-haired women in particular, he'd recognised one of them from the footage; she'd been the one who'd fought Danny.

Still he rationalised, there was a good chance Johnson would be dead, and he didn't care if these fools died in the attempt, they'd do what he was paying them for or die trying, which was all he could hope for. With that realisation he smiled.

"Excellent, I'll be in touch once I have a time and location" Jorje nodded once.

"We will be ready"

 **Los Angeles Alhambra The Days Inn**

He'd collected what he needed from storage last night then booked the motel room on-line first thing this morning. He'd turned up late-morning to collect the key, telling the desk person he'd flown in on the red eye and hadn't slept, so he'd be sleeping and didn't want to be disturbed by the cleaners.

The young Goth girl behind the counter, all sun-shy pale skin, round thick-rimmed glasses and pseudo-Celtic tats had nodded and told him to hang the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door handle and the maids wouldn't enter. Smiling at that he'd headed upstairs, hung the sign and then got to work, opening his bag to reveal an explosive booby trap, a larger twin to the ones he'd used in the Sheraton. Wasting no time he secured it to the door with duct tape then grabbed his bag, exited the room, closed the door behind him and armed the device with his cell phone before heading down the fire escape, bypassing the front desk and making his way to his Taurus, parked nearby.

That done he drove around the block and parked in the multi-level car park across the road and got comfortable, he'd chosen this particular motel for exactly this reason; he had a clear line of sight over the motel's entrance. That done he settled in to wait for his trap to spring shut.

 **Los Angeles LAPD The Parker Centre**

Brenda's viewpoint

I'd been out enjoying a late lunch with Sharon, we'd both been tied up and missed the lunch hour, but that meant we had the café to ourselves as we caught up, making it a very pleasant break. After a casual stroll back I was now banging on the elevator button impatiently, I'd had a call; it looked like we had another lead on Simmonds.

Arriving back in Major Crimes I walked over to where a group was clustered around Khan, seeing them open up to make room for me as I walked up.

"What exactly do we have?" Khan looked up at my question.

"I had set up a notification in case any of the credit cards previously used showed up again, the Tom Clancy identity checked into a motel in Alhambra, the Days Inn, late this morning. I glanced at the clock on the wall, it was 3.40.

"Good work, let's move people, and get uniformed support to help lock the place up tight, same drill as before" A couple of minutes later we were on our way to Alhambra.

 **Los Angeles Alhambra 26 N 1st St Parking**

Simmonds smiled to himself as he saw the first unmarked cop cars, then a couple of Black and Whites arrive, all staying out of sight of the motel entrance. They'd taken the bait and it had only taken 4 hours. He pulled out his cell and rang the Columbians, sitting in a MacDonald's a few blocks away.

" _Si?_ "

"They're here, move into position" The line went dead, they'd be on their way over here and parking in the same car park, only on a lower level closer to the street, giving them the chance to get the drop on the cops from an unexpected direction. He sat up straighter and waited for Johnson to appear.

 **Los Angeles Alhambra The Days Inn**

Jane's viewpoint

We piled in and spoke to the Goth kid behind the counter, getting her story; she'd identified Simmonds from photographs and told us he was in room 208. Brenda looked around.

"Carefully and quietly people, let's do this" We made our way up to the first floor and carefully into the corridor, seeing a maid walking into a door further down. Reaching room 208 I spotted the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door handle. Brenda handed the key off to me again, speaking softly.

"If you'd be kind enough to do the honours for us again detective" I nodded and started to insert the key when something made me pause. Looking down at the door I tried to work out what it was that had bothered me.

"What's up?" Brenda asked softly. I held up my hand to stop everyone then realised what I'd seen. Dropping prone I peered under the door, I couldn't see anything but it was bright inside the room, the lights were on but no sounds, nothing. Looking up I spoke in a hiss.

"Everyone move back, way back" I got puzzled looks but people started moving as I lay back down again and listened. Nothing, no sounds at all that weren't coming from outside, I couldn't hear breathing but the room was pretty silent, everything you'd expect from someone sleeping, but all those lights…I rolled back into a sitting position then looked round, beckoning Liv over. "Go grab that maid" Pushing up I kept moving everyone back down the hall.

"What did you see?" Flynn asked as I grimaced.

"The 'don't disturb' signs up but the lights in the room are on, but there's no noise, no television, nothing" I frowned. "Something's off" I saw thoughtful looks at that as Liv returned with the Latino-looking maid, she looked scared, maybe she was an illegal, maybe just this many people with guns scared her, I dunno. Caine spoke quickly in Spanish, getting a quick nod and a reply, it went back and forward for a few seconds before he thanked her and looked to us.

"That sign's been there since this morning, but she's seen no one in or out all day"

"No sounds…" Brenda mused, getting a nod from Taylor.

"And he used a credit card he must suspect's been compromised…"

"We didn't see a car licence plate on the check in details either" Stella Bonasera added as I thought that over, a lot of motels asked for those details including this one. Brenda nodded as Kate looked to the maid and spoke.

"Is there anyone in either 207 or 209?"

"207 yes, but not 209" Brenda saw where this was going and nodded.

"Please open 209 for us" She looked to Kate. "Please be careful Detective" Kate nodded and we watched as Kate followed the maid to 209, she opened the door and Kate slipped inside as we looked between us.

"I hope you're wrong Rizzoli" Flynn said but Taylor grimaced.

"Maybe, but she's right, it smells"

"Plus he has form" Calleigh commented, getting nods from most of us, we all remembered the Sheraton. Thirty seconds later an obviously concerned Kate reappeared at 209's door.

"We have to evacuate everyone now" She held up her phone. "I was able to get from that balcony to this one's, the room's empty but there's something on the door" She held the phone up and the picture on the screen was a twin to the one taken in the Sheraton, an ominous shape duct taped to the door, though this one was if anything even larger.

"Well done Kate, and you too Jane. Detectives, get everyone out of here right now, someone call the bomb squad and let them know we need them here stat, plus tell them it looks like the same sort of bomb as the ones at the Sheraton" I saw Flynn pull out his cell as she looked around. "Detective Mendoza, head back to the desk and find out how many people are checked in, we need to make sure this place is empty"

The next few minutes were frantic but we managed to get everyone who was checked in and who was in the building outside into the motel car park as we waited for the bomb squad.

 **Los Angeles Alhambra 26 N 1st St Parking**

Simmonds smiled to himself. He'd hoped they'd kick in the door, setting off the device and maybe killing a few cops, possibly including Johnson, but they'd played it commendably cautious, given they were evacuating people they'd obviously discovered his little surprise. No matter, it had done its job, herding the cops down into the motel's car park. The Columbian's were in position and waiting for his signal. They wouldn't miss this one; he'd used almost a kilo of RDX so it would provide plenty of distraction and one hell of a go signal.

With that he sent a text message to the bomb, watching with anticipation as he hit send, a split-second later the shockwave blew out every 1st floor window in the place, the cops ducking as glass flew, then looking back to the building as smoke and dust billowed out.

A second later automatic gunfire started up from below him out of sight as the Columbian's attacked.

With a smile Simmonds sat back to enjoy the show.


	67. Chapter 67

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **67 The Ambush**

 **Los Angeles Alhambra The Days Inn**

Liv's viewpoint

The explosion was shocking, with everyone instinctively ducking, me included, before looking up, seeing shattered glass raining down around us as smoke and dust started to surge out the windows. I looked around to make sure no one had been hurt when I heard the unmistakable rattle of weapons fire. Instincts took over as without thinking I fell prone and dragged my Glock out, even as I looked towards the sound, seeing a group of men advancing towards the arch between the car park and the road outside, firing indiscriminately, I could already see two uniforms on the ground near the car park entrance, one not moving, the other one screaming as he writhed in pain.

People had hit the deck or dived into cover, even as I saw an obviously stunned civilian, still standing and looking around, trying to comprehend what was happening, go down from being hit, blood spraying from a hit to his stomach and another to his thigh, screaming in agony.

 **Stella**

I popped my head over the low concrete wall separating the car park from a walkway outside the motel's ground floor units, the low-painted concrete wall was just high enough you could crouch down out of sight, as I looked round I saw one of the attackers walk towards the injured office writhing on the ground near the entrance, pause and say something, then fire a burst into him, killing him instantly. I felt fury well up inside me. I wanted to fire but he was too far away and I couldn't be sure of my shot so instead I dropped back and looked to Duquesne who was a few feet further along, trying to sneak a peek around a break in the wall.

"They're killing the wounded" I shouted, seeing her jaw clench as she obviously felt the same anger I was.

 **Los Angeles Alhambra 26 N 1st St Parking**

"Forget the wounded you prick, concentrate on the target" Simmonds muttered to himself as he watched the Columbian walk away from the cop he'd just hosed. The Columbian obviously hated cops so much he couldn't walk past one who was badly injured, stopping to put him down instead of remaining focused on the mission. He grimaced in frustration, that's what you got for hiring gangers, the useless, undisciplined sons of bitches.

 **Brenda**

I frantically scurried into cover, cowering behind an old Volkswagen Rabbit, looking around to see Flynn looking down at his arm, there was blood visible running down his sleeve and hand

"Andy, are you hit?" He looked at me and shook his head through some obvious pain.

"Fell on some glass when they started shooting" I nodded, the ground was covered in glass shards but right now they were by far the lesser problem. I looked around, seeing the rest of my team huddling in cover, those I could see, I ducked my head around the side of the car and spotted at least five people on the ground, two of them uniformed officers who'd been near the car park entrance, keeping people away from the site, the other bodies were civilians, some were moving, some weren't.

There were at least four shooters, spreading out as they advanced, firing at anything that moved as they advanced, the sound of three-round bursts loud in the confined car park, echoes bouncing back from the motel's walls on three sides.

As I watched I saw one of them stagger back a bit, then turn, spraying bullets off to the left, peppering a car. A few seconds later Taylor's voice floated out from behind it.

"They're wearing vests!" I nodded grimly, of course they were. Realising getting into a fire fight with these guys wasn't my job and I was supposed to be thinking like a leader, I grabbed for my cell; we needed backup. In seconds I was through to Despatch.

"911, what is the nature of your emergency?"

"This is Deputy Chief Johnson, LAPD…" I recited my badge number and continued. "…I need all available units at twenty sixth north first street in Alhambra, at the Day's Inn motel, we have a shooting in progress, multiple shooters and we have officers down, so we need EMTs as well, plus the buildings on fire" She repeated it back to me, her voice calm, making me wonder how she did it, I was sure she could hear the automatic fire down the line.

"Alhambra, 26th North 1st, Days Inn Motel, officer down, active shooter, officer requesting assistance including fire and rescue" I nodded.

"Yes, and tell responding officers to use caution, the shooters have automatic weapons"

"Tactical Response is being notified, units are en-route, including air wing, please remain on the line" that calm voice replied. I nodded, I could keep her notified and she'd tell responding units what they were heading into.

"Will do despatch" I moved to look around the end of the car and spotted one of the gunmen looking round. He spotted me and his eyes widened as she started shouting something in Spanish, I didn't know what it was but it got their attention as he and another guy started moving this way.

 **Mikki**

I heard them shouting to each other in Spanish.

" _She is here! Over here, the cop woman_ " I grimaced, that could only mean one person, even as another replied

" _Get her!_ " Looking around I saw Provenza and Khan with me then yelled as loud as I could, everyone needed to know.

"They're after the Chief!"

 **Caine**

I heard Mendoza's shout and grimaced, of course they were. I leaned around one end of the pickup I was in cover behind, seeing the guy who'd been firing at where Taylor and I were hiding behind it had turned away, I shifted position and drew a bead, my first shot missed as he brought his M4 up and fired at someone off to my right, that was where the Chief had been. The second shot winged him in the side, low, down below where his vest was, not bad but it spun him round, even as I heard another shot from my left, where Taylor was on the other side of a cowering civilian. That shot clipped his thigh, sending him stumbling. Before I could react he turned and sprayed the area around us with fully automatic fire, sending us both huddling into cover.

 **Jane**

I found myself backed against a car, Kate crouched beside me as I caught her eye and spoke.

"You okay?" She nodded jerkily.

"Yeah, I'm good" I ducked my head over the car and scanned through the car's shattered glass , seeing a group of guys, at least four, making their way into the motel car park from the entrance, shooting at anything that moved. I ducked back and looked to Kate.

"At least four, looks like M4s again" The automatic fire confirmed that.

"Wonderful" She locked eyes with me. "Remind me to thank Simmonds; that bastard's been no end of trouble and this has to be his handiwork" I nodded.

"Happy to but you'll have to get in line" I shifted position and raised my Glock. "Ready" She nodded.

"On three" We exchanged a look as she started. "Three…two…one!" We both popped up and braced on the car's bonnet, looking for a target, seeing one guy taking aim at someone we couldn't see. Lining up I fired, Kate's gun firing almost as one with mine.

 **Olivia**

One of the guys stepped our way and, catching movement, he spun to see the Goth kid, the receptionist, start running away, God knows where. He brought up his weapon and fired, the stream of shells scything her down, her body tumbling to a sprawled halt. He didn't get much time to react though, I fired two shots at him, both barely missed and he turned my way, looking for who was shooting at him. His eyes met mine and he raised his M4 but didn't have time to fire, Jane and Kate both popped up from a car behind him and fired, Weirdly I saw the front of his face turn to red ruin as both bullets exited his skull in a spray of blood and brain, he dropped the weapon as he took a single step then collapsed like a puppet with its string cut, dead before his body hit the ground, even as I ducked back into cover.

 **Los Angeles Alhambra 26 N 1st St Parking**

Simmonds watched from his perch in his car, up on the upper levels of the car park, frowning darkly to himself at the scene below him. The Columbian's were too disorganised, they were a gang, not a trained and disciplined unit; they shot at whatever moved or caught their eye. He found himself wishing he had a sniper's rifle, with it he could have picked off those cops he could see from his vantage point while they were preoccupied with the fire fight.

Instead he was relegated to watching as they bumbled their way through, spraying bullets around, hoping against hope that they might actually kill their target.

 **Provenza**

I sat with my back against the car, feeling it shiver as bullets hit it, those that didn't pass above it and into the motel. I'd taken a shot at one of the attackers and while I'd missed, I'd attracted their attention, unfortunately. I dropped to the ground, feeling my joints protest, loudly. A reminder I really was getting too old for this shit; then looked under the car, seeing one of the guys walking my way. I remembered something Romanov had told me about her fire fight with the Barrio Bangers in San Pedro, when she and the others had been ambushed last year. She'd dropped low and shot under a car, taking one of the attacker's legs out from under him. It wasn't a bad strategy but I couldn't get into the position to shoot so I looked to Mendoza and Khan, they'd ended up next to me, waving them down urgently.

"Mendoza, down here!" I hissed, pointing under the car. She got what I meant and dropped prone, a feral smile on her face as she saw the closest shooter.

"Perfect" With that she rolled prone, bracing herself on the ground as she lined up the shot as I took a peek over cover. The first one missed, tearing up the concrete next to his foot, Mendoza didn't wait though, her second and third hit his foot and shin, blood spraying everywhere as he dropped to the ground screaming, his foot a bloody ruin. He was still holding the rifle though which made him a legitimate target, someone else must have thought so, as two shots hit him from someone else, maybe several someone else's, one in the side and the other in the shoulder, sending him sprawling, screaming in Spanish as blood flew everywhere.

 **Brenda**

As I watched, one of the remaining two attackers paused, seeing two of his companions go down in quick succession, he yelled something in Spanish to his buddy, the wounded one busy spraying fire into the car that I knew Taylor and who knows who else was hiding behind. Trying to buy him some time I braced against the Rabbit and settled my aim, it was a reasonable distance but still…

The first shot missed, so did the second, but he must have realised he was being shot at as he ducked and looked around, looking for where the shots were coming from as I ducked back out into cover.

 **Calleigh**

"That's the second one down" Stella said as she pulled her head back I nodded.

"Figure they're maybe going to pull back, probably the way they came" At my comment she nodded quickly past me towards the front of the building and spoke up, loudly over the shooting and the screams of the wounded.

"Yeah, c'mon" She started scrabbling, awkwardly crouched down behind the low concrete wall as I took off after her; we made our way towards the front of the car park, hearing the noises from the other side of the low wall and the sounds of sirens in the distance.

Coming to the end of the wall we came to a stop and both looked over, seeing one of the gunmen was limping, he'd taken a hit in the leg; his friend though was still backing away and firing.

I looked at Stella and got a nod and agreement.

"Yeah, let's do this" I said, getting a quick nod as well before we both stood and ran forward, heading for the car parked closest to the entrance, a travel-stained Buick, looking to get into cover.

 **Olivia**

The last two guys were looking around, already starting to back away and spraying indiscriminately, bullets impacting cars, walls and anything else upright.

I saw Duquesne and Bonasera lean around each end of a Buick and open fire, one missed; the other hit him in the leg, sending him tumbling to the ground, howling in pain. He managed to hang on to his weapon though, which made him a legitimate target in my book, I braced on the hood of the Bronco I was next to and fired, others must have had the same idea, at least four shots hit him, his body jerking from the impacts.

The fourth gunman was already backing away, moving back towards the arch between the hotel and the street, obviously trying to escape as he sprayed suppression fire around then started changing magazines. That was the chance a uniformed officer behind him needed; he must have been one of the officers covering the rear of the motel who'd responded to the sound of firing. He lined up around the corner and fired, he'd gone for the centre of mass and hit the vest as the shooter stumbled then span round and sprayed towards where the cop was, driving him back into cover.

I don't know if he realised he was cut off, but we could hear sirens and the faint sounds of a helicopter coming closer as he turned and ran towards the entrance, already slamming another magazine into the M4, there was a moment's pause then everyone opened up, a fusillade of bullets heading his way from three directions, as I stepped to my feet, braced my arm with my fist and started firing with everyone else.

 **Taylor**

I saw the last guy trying to escape, his path taking him straight past the car Duquesne and Stella were at, realising he might try going for them I stood and braced against the car, lining up on him and firing, hearing Caine doing the same from beside me.

 **Kate**

The last guy was trying to get away, and there were cops outside, some of whom he might shoot if he got that far.

"Don't let the bastard get away" It was Jane; she'd had the same thought as I had, we both braced against the hood again and let fire.

 **Brenda**

I was leaning around the cover, seeing the last guy trying to escape, something everyone obviously wanted stopped, there was a veritable hail of bullets, many missed but more didn't, for a few seconds he jerked as shot after shot hit, before he dropped to the concrete and lay sprawled, his rifle spilling and clattering to lay a few feet distant as blood started to flow.

I cast my eye around, counting four down shooters, together with at least five dead and wounded that I could see through the increasing wisps of smoke drifting out of the building behind me, which reminded me...I lifted the cell to my ear and spoke.

"Despatch, we have the four active shooters down, cannot see more but need backup, plus EMT support and fire units, the building fire's getting worse"

"Confirm active shooters down, Ambulance and LAFD units are en-route, please repeat your status" I stood and looked around, seeing two civilians writhing on the concrete, Mendoza and Khan were with one, talking to him while Caine and Taylor were examining the two downed shooters closest to them, kicking their weapons away and confirming they were dead or down. Rizzoli and Beckett were moving to check another victim out of sight as Bonasera and Duquesne checked the last shooter, the one near the door.

Everyone ignored the shooter in the middle of the car park; he was decidedly dead, missing most of his face in fact. Provenza was up and looking round while Hoyt had appeared from somewhere and was helping Flynn to stand, being careful of his arm which was dripping blood onto the concrete. I saw Benson talking to another civilian on the ground, she was writhing in pain and Olivia had taken her hand in her own, trying to calm her as she moaned.

I grimaced at the mess; we had at least five or six victims, walking further into the centre I tried to make an accurate count, seeing a couple of uniformed officers outside near our two downed officers, standing around in the quiet fashion that suggested that sadly, there was nothing anyone could do for them.

"Despatch, we have at least three wounded, possibly more, plus at least two officers down" Whatever I was about to say was suddenly drowned out as a LAPD helicopter appeared from behind the building, hovering over us and looking down into the car park, it was noisy but it was blowing the increasingly thick smoke away. I looked behind me and saw the smoke and a hint of flames through several empty windows. I walked forward and waved my arms to get people's attention.

"Detectives, let's get everyone outside and away from the building. There was a general move as they started shepherding the civilians away towards the entrance as I looked round, seeing who I'd missed.

 **Los Angeles Alhambra 26 N 1st St Parking**

The Columbian's had tried but they'd missed, he'd seen the cops had reacted pretty quickly, after the initial volley of fire which had taken down a couple of uniformed cops, the attackers had moved in but the plain clothes cops had gone to ground and got their shit sorted pretty quick, as he'd watched the Columbian's had lost track of their target and got bogged down in a fire fight, one they couldn't hope to win, shooting at any target that popped up they'd gone down one by one, flanked by the cops and taken down by concentrated fire.

Now there was a chopper hovering over the site and the sounds of approaching sirens, reminding him it was time to go. He looked down into the mess, ignoring the scattered bodies as, for a moment, he held out hope that they'd got their target. That hope died as he saw a flash of blonde hair as Johnson walked out into the open, a phone to her ear, making him snarl gently.

"Fucking amateurs, couldn't even kill a middle-aged fucking woman in an ambush" An incoming call dragged his attention away and the number there made him grin as he answered it.

"Is it done?"

" _It is_ "

"Excellent, I'm on my way; I'll meet you at the warehouse" With that he started the car and reversed out of the parking spot and headed out, he had places to be.

 **Brenda**

I watched as the first Black and Whites pulled up outside, letting Despatch know and ending the call then looked around. I saw Caine had gloves on and was examining the shooter's weapon, I noticed they were military grade weapons, M4s, the same as the shooters at Mercy General, so that would be more for Ana to look into. It turned out two of the shooters were dead, the one who had taken two shots to the back of the head and the one everyone had shot at last were dead, he'd taken a hit to the head amongst a range of other hits, a good thing too as they were all wearing body armour under their street clothes. We also found a couple of discarded sports bags, almost certainly that had been how they carried the M4s here unnoticed.

The guy who Bonasera and Duquesne had stopped was in a bad way; one of the bullet's had come in just above the vest and hit just below and almost in line with the throat, doing all kinds of damage, he might live if the EMT's were fast enough and he was lucky, while the last was lying on the ground, near the entrance, he'd taken four hits, nothing vital but cumulatively pretty bad.

A few minutes later and the place was a disturbed ant's nest, dozens of uniformed units had responded, including several ambulances. Four wounded civilians were on their way to ICU at the nearest trauma centre, leaving two officers and three civilians dead. As I watched Andy Flynn was sitting in the back of one ambulance parked on the street, having his arm attended to by an EMT, they were carefully removing glass shards from his arm, bloody but fortunately not deep, though he'd need a few stitches.

As for our attackers, the two with head wounds were long dead, the one with the chest wound was already on his way to a local trauma centre where he'd probably head straight into surgery; he'd definitely been hit close to arteries and his windpipe and might live to see tomorrow or, according to the EMT's, he just as easily might not, while the last was on his way to hospital under guard, he'd also need surgery to deal with his wounds, but as long as he was treated soon he'd live.

We'd moved ourselves out onto the street to give the LAFD room to attack the fire, they'd probably be able to contain the fire but not without extensive fire and water damage, according to the Chief on site, which pretty much destroyed any chances of forensic evidence from the room.

An hour later and we were staring to get a handle on the situation, a check of the wallets of the four shooters had confirmed that all four were from Colombia, making me wonder how they'd got up here, got armed and equipped and were in the right place to come after us. It all came back to one person, Simmonds'; especially given that bomb was definitely his handiwork. The image on Kate's phone was a twin to the one recovered from the Sheraton, and Simmonds had received explosives training in the Marines, something he'd put to good use here, again.

He'd played us like a seasoned angler, flicking out a lure which we'd gone after like a hungry trout. I grimaced to myself, that wouldn't happen again.

Putting that thought aside for a moment I made my way around my team, chatting to each of them, none were badly wounded, a few nicks and cuts from flying glass though Andy had got the worst of that, but given we'd been attacked by four men armed with assault rifles we'd been lucky, luckier than the two uniformed officers near the entrance who'd been the first to fall. I'd watched as they'd been covered by sheets to give them some privacy in death, particularly from the crowds shooting with their cell phones and media who were being kept well back as we waited on Natalie's arrival.

Leaving them to it I made my way back to the initial shooting site; I had an FID investigation to submit to. For so long I'd been used to Sharon handling it so it was still a little surprising to see newly-promoted Captain Elliot standing there waiting for me.

"Ah Chief, good to see you're okay" he looked at me, concern evident. "You are okay?" I pulled out a tired smile.

"I am, though these shoes are close to ruined I think" I glanced down at my heavily scuffed pumps, crawling around in the car park and glass shards had ruined them. "Nothing that can't be replaced though" he nodded carefully and smiled.

"Good to hear. I've found a few witnesses, including an off-duty security guard out on the street who saw the whole thing" At my raised eyebrow he nodded. "Yes, he wasn't armed so he kept his head down and watched everything. We've already got him giving a statement but it's looking pretty open and shut to me" I smiled; he was so different from Sharon, something I teased him with.

"Now Captain, what would the Commander say have to say about that" he smiled a little sheepishly then replied.

"Exactly the same actually Chief" At my raise eyebrow he pointed across the road towards the car park. The area's covered by security cameras, both here in the hotel and out on the street, they recorded the whole thing" I followed his arm but couldn't see them so I took his word for it. Elliot was still explaining. "Having already seen the tapes, I stand by my original statement" I smiled and nodded my gratitude.

"Thank you captain, I appreciate it, I really do" he shrugged.

"I will need statements from each of the officers involved though" I nodded once, that was standard. A quick call later and the others were on their way over as I watched Megan Hunt working with one of Maura's medical examiners, examining the body of one of the dead; making me frown, which deepened as I saw Kate Murphy crouching over one of the dead officers, Maura normally attended Major Crimes call outs. Jane must have spotted it too as she wandered over to speak to Megan.

"HI Megan, any idea where Maura is?" Meghan looked up and smiled.

"She headed off, something about a dinner party at your place, so Kate and I covered for her" Jane frowned and pulled out her cell, speaking as she put a call through.

"That's weird, she always rolls out for a Major Crimes call" She put her cell to her ear waited, getting no response and, wearing a puzzled expression, she finished her call and spoke.

"That's strange Maura's not answering" Liv looked at her and fished her own cell out, placing a call, one that obviously didn't go through.

"Alex isn't either" Kate looked from one to the other.

"Weren't they all over at your place Jane? We were all supposed to be having dinner there tonight" Jane nodded as Kate continued. "Rick was with them, let me call him" She placed the call as we stood there, a frown slowly appearing; one mirrored on the others faces. "He isn't answering" They exchanged concerned looks which deepened as they came to a realisation, fear and horror apparent before they took off at a run before I could say anything, rapidly disappearing out the door towards their car which shortly thereafter took off in scream of engine, tyres and sirens. Elliot looked to me, confusion being replaced by concern, he wasn't a fool, he'd come to the same conclusion I had.

"You think…" I felt the dread horror bloom inside me as I held up my hand, pulling my cell out of my bag and grimly ringing Natalie, the phone rang out before going to voice mail. I ended the call and placed another as Elliot watched helplessly.

" _Special Agent Romanov, can I help you_ "

"Agent Romanov, this is Chief Johnson, do you know where Natalie is right now?" There was a pause for a second before she replied, confusion in her voice.

" _She's with Maura and Alex over at Jane's place, we're having dinner over there tonight_ " Unconsciously I shook my head as I prepared to deliver the bad news.

"There was an attack on us at a crime scene, four men with automatic rifles…"

" _Jesus; is everyone okay?_ " she interrupted.

"Fortunately yes, but Maura and Natalie have not responded to the call out and none of them are answering their cells"

" _Oh god_ " The phone suddenly went dead as I looked round at Elliot, seeing the realisation in his face mirroring mine.

"Oh no"


	68. Chapter 68

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **68 A message**

 **Los Angeles Westwood**

Alex's viewpoint

We'd just arrived at Maura's place and walked in to find the glorious smells of a slow-cooked meal waiting for us, we were having a French-style casserole tonight and the meat had been cooking for almost eight hours, the aroma was mouth-watering. We were having dinner with Rick and Kate, so we'd settled down with wines and a beer for Rick as we watched Maura efficiently start moving the ingredients out onto the bench top, while politely refusing our offers to help. We'd barely started to relax when we heard the distinctive ringtone they'd assigned to the LAPD's Despatch from both Nat's and Maura's phones, they'd set up the same ring tone so that they'd both recognise it on the other's phone.

We exchanged resigned looks as they moved to answer them when there was a tremendous crash from the front of the house as, with an ear-splitting crack, the front door lock gave way and the door slammed back against the wall, letting three large men spill in, all armed with pistols. Natalie saw them and immediately turned to run, barely getting four steps towards the back of the house when two men walked in through the open sliding glass doors out onto the back yard, both holding pistols. Stopping Natalie, they turned her around and quickly pushed and shoved her up against the wall with the rest of as we looked frantically between us, scared and unsure what was going on.

"Who are you…?" Natalie began but was cut off by one of the men.

"Bitch, shut the fuck up before I make you" Another was holding up a cell and flicking across images with his thumb, looking from one of us to the other as I realised this wasn't a home invasion, they were after someone.

"That's the lawyer…" He nodded my way and I was grabbed by the arm and dragged aside roughly, making me wince at the pain, any thought I might have had of fighting was made futile, both by the gun in his hand and the knowledge he had to be twice my weight, most of it muscle by the looks of his arms. "…and she's the other one we want" he gestured towards Maura as another man dragged her alongside me. "We don't need these two…" He waved to his cohorts with a rubber-gloved hand and they stepped forward, pushing Natalie and Rick together against a wall as Natalie's eyes turned wide as saucers, Rick stepped between her and them but was pushed back at the barrel of a gun, it was obvious what was going to happen but before I could offer them something, anything, to buy them off, Maura urgently shouted.

"Stop! You want them too" The guy with the cell phone, probably their leader, looked at Maura.

"What the fuck you saying bitch?" Maura was pleading; I could see the desperation in her face as she spoke quickly.

"You need them too; we are all involved in the investigation" I suddenly realised where she was going with this as I started nodding furiously, even as the leader snorted contemptuously.

"Yeah, right" Maura shook her head, her voice pleading.

"No, she is the LAPD's media spokesperson and he is one of the investigators on the case" I suddenly grasped what Maura was doing and why; they wanted us for leverage, if you weren't valuable for that, you were expendable, realising that I urgently joined in.

"We're all involved in the investigation and prosecution of Danny Wynter, all of us are" One of the others spoke, indicating Natalie with his pistol.

"I've seen her on the news, she's LAPD" I felt a sudden thrill of hope which died just as suddenly. "Don't know about him though" The leader turned to Rick.

"You a cop?" He frowned. "We don't need a cop" Rick shook his head.

"Not a cop, I'm a consultant, I help police department's with cases, cases like this one"

"I've got these three, why do I need you?" Rick's jaw tightened but I beat him to it, better he was a hostage with us than left behind, dead.

"His name's Rick Castle, he's a best-selling author" The leader frowned then held out his hand.

"Wallet, nice and slow" Rick nodded once and spoke; his voice terse.

"It's in my jacket" He pointed towards the back of one of the dining chairs and the leader waved another one of them that way. The guy rifled through Rick's jacket and retrieved a wallet, opening it and pulling out a driver's licence.

"Got a New York driver's licence in the name of Rick Castle" The leader nodded then looked at Rick.

"You come with us, but any trouble, well I was told to get those two, you're a bonus, so's she, but you're not essential, got it?" Rick nodded.

"Yeah, I hear you"

There was a furious high pitched barking as Jo raced into the room, running around, picking up on her favourite human's distress and anxiety, barking and yelping as she moved to where Maura was, growling at the man threatening her, it would have been comical under different circumstances, the tiny dog growling at the big man in front of her.

"Scram mutt!" One of the men lashed out with a boot, connecting with the little dog and sending her screaming and sliding across the room and into a cupboard where she whimpered for a second before painfully getting up and scampering away, yelping and hobbling.

Maura went to go after her but the guy closest restrained her by the simple expedient of twisting an arm up behind her back and shoving a gun in her face. Rick took a step and was stopped by another.

"Uh ah big guy, we don't need you, not really, so calm down or we leave you here as a message for the cops to find" Rick grimaced but nodded his understanding and stepped back slowly.

With that we were forced out of the house and across the lawn, a nondescript black van was waiting for us, in seconds we were pushed inside and forced into a huddled mass in a corner under the watchful eyes and guns of two of the men as the doors slammed shut and a few seconds later, we were driven away.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Robbery / Homicide**

Sharon's viewpoint

I looked up at a perfunctory knock at my door, seeing Julio Sanchez already passing inside.

"Commander, we have to move, now" At his brusque tone I frowned.

"Why?" Julio didn't mince words, but then he never did.

"There's been an attack on the Chief" He held up his hand as my heart leapt into my throat. "She's fine, not a scratch, but you'll want to be with her so you're coming with us" I nodded numbly as I stood.

"What happened?"

"An ambush ma'am, the attackers are down, and none of our people hurt, fortunately she had her team and the out-of-towners with her" I nodded jerkily, already thanking god that Jane and Liv were with her. I grabbed my bag and started tossing things into it when David Gabriel appeared at my door, Amy Sykes behind him, the look on his face dire, hers as well, through the glass I could see the rest of the squad up and moving this way, already looking round in a way that positively screamed 'DANGER' in huge glowing letters.

"Ma'am, we're going to escort you" David looked as grim as I'd ever seen him. "Mendoza just called, there's been a development, it appears Doctor Isles and Natalie, plus DDA Cabot and that New York writer who was helping Major Crimes out have all been abducted" I felt like the floor had been pulled out from under me, leaving me shocked and numb, I instinctively reached out a hand and rested it on the desk for support, then looking up I shook my head and asked the question.

"What happened?"

"They were all at Rizzoli and the Doc's place; none of them were responding to their phones which set off everyone's alarms" David stated. "When Rizzoli and the others got there they were gone, the place was wide open, purses, cells, keys, all left behind" I nodded slowly as I took it in, though inside a voice was screaming, " _Oh no, it can't be happening, not again!_ "

Focusing past that with a huge effort I managed to speak up in an almost normal tone, looking from Julio to David.

"No idea who took them?" They both shook their heads grimly as Julio spoke.

"Given their all in some way involved in that Cabal case, or involved with people who are, I'd say that's why they were targeted" David nodded.

"And as you're involved with the Chief, you're just as much at risk as they were" I looked from one to the other.

"Where's Chief Johnson now?" Julio replied.

"She was at the scene of the attempted shooting, but she's headed to Rizzoli's place" I grabbed my bag and started for the door.

"Then that's where we're going" They nodded as my squad moved towards us, already forming around me, their presence was a grateful reassurance but all I could think of were the others, all missing and someone had tried to take Brenda from me, again.

Right now I was still in shock, when that wore off I'd probably be angry but right now I needed to see Brenda and the others.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

The teleconference went through, 30 seconds later and the other four had joined the call, as soon as the last had connected he kicked them off, not beating around the bush.

"We tried to take the cop running the investigation into Danny out of play but she was lucky"

" _You missed_ " It was Vic and it wasn't a question.

"Yeah, but they were completely deniable assets, no way to trace them back to us"

" _Still, not good to miss_ " At Kurt's words Simmonds unconsciously frowned at the criticism but pushed past his irritation.

"They did their job; while the cops were shitting themselves about that we grabbed a number of their assets, not cops but people they need. We're going to trade them for Danny"

" _Whoa, ballsy play man_ " At John's comment Vic jumped in.

" _I thought the cops didn't negotiate_ " He smiled.

"They will here" At Simmonds' confident reply Kurt asked the obvious.

" _Who did you grab, the Governor_?" Simmonds smile widened as he explained.

"The DA prosecuting Danny, the coroner who was running the forensics on the investigation, the cop's media woman and a civilian consultant working on the case" Simmonds shrugged, he hadn't expected the spokeswoman or the author but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, having them opened up uses for them.

" _You think they'll negotiate_?" said Frank as Simmonds unconsciously nodded.

"The consultant, his name's Richard Castle, he's a best-selling author"

" _I know the name_ " It was Vic, backed up by John.

" _Yeah, me too_ "

"So when we mail the cops a body part and the video they'll know we're serious" Simmonds shrugged. "If they don't come to the party we send the next part to the media, hacking up a celebrity on television should pile the pressure on the cops"

" _Or piss them off even more_ " Simmonds grinned happily at that thought, given all he'd done so far he didn't think they could be any more pissed at him.

"Don't think that's possible, I mean we did try and blow a hole in their Deputy Chief, so this is just icing on the cake"

" _You've started a war out there Simmonds_ " Kurt said, but Vic intervened before he could reply.

" _He's the man on the ground out there, it's his call and with Danny in a prison hospital it's gonna take real leverage to get him back_ " Kurt backed down.

" _Okay, I understand that, it's just we didn't want a war with the cops_ " He paused then continued. " _Just keep it local okay, we're already cutting our ties with Danny's operation, so make sure they don't get a sniff of you Simmonds, you and Danny are the only two people who know about the rest of us_ " Sudden anger filled him.

"You saying I'd rat you out if I was caught?" Kurt hastily backtracked.

" _God no, none of us would, but if they get their hands on you and start digging up your history it could lead them to the rest of us_ " Simmonds felt the need to defend himself.

"I have no intention of getting caught" John spoke quietly.

" _Neither did Danny and now he's rotting in prison_ " There was a pause at that as they all considered his words before finally Kurt spoke up.

" _Given what's happened, I'm starting to move my assets out of the country, plus greasing a few palms in Venezuela so I can move in and vanish there_ " He paused. " _I suggest you all look at doing the same_ "

" _What about Danny_?" asked Frank, obviously concerned by the implications of Kurt's statement about vanishing off to South America permanently, Frank liked his income; god knew he spent it fast enough on fast cars and faster women.

" _If we can get Danny back and out of the country, that's what we all want but let's face facts_ " Kurt stated flatly. " _Given the shit storm we've got going out there, the cops aren't going to give up on this anytime soon, especially if we get Danny back. They're going to try and track down any possible connection Danny's ever had_ " He paused then pushed on in the silence.

" _Our security's been good, thanks in the main to the way it was set up and Simmonds' efforts to make sure all the loose ends go away. But are we absolutely certain there's no way the cops can tie any of us together?_ " There was a long, silent pause on the line. " _Didn't think so_ " No one spoke for a moment before John broke the silence.

" _Simmonds, it's your op, keep us in the loop_ " Simmonds unconsciously nodded.

"Will do"

He ended the call and looked round the office in the warehouse they were using then stood, walking outside, grabbing two of the guys he was using for this operation and heading upstairs to where they were keeping their 'guests'.

He walked into the empty office and saw the four of them, each handcuffed to a pipe fixed solidly to the wall, seeing the baleful looks they gave him. The media woman looked at him and frowned, then spoke.

"You're Simmonds" He smiled.

"Very good, and you're the cop's spokeswoman" He looked at the others. "You're all kind of famous, you're the coroner and you're the lawyer from that crooked cops trial, and you Mister Castle, a best-selling author" The lawyer looked up at him, defiance and maybe some fear in her eyes.

"What are you going to do with us?" He smiled as he replied.

"Given you're all important people, I'm going to use that as leverage"

"By exchanging us for Danny Wynter" It was the coroner and it wasn't a question, the woman wasn't stupid, he'd give her that. He nodded as he spoke.

"Yep, I was only expecting you and the lawyer, Castle and Dearing here are icing on the cake, it just gives me more leverage"

"The LAPD doesn't negotiate with terrorists and criminals" It was the media woman. He smiled at her as he ran his eyes over her, she was beautiful, all three were, too bad he wouldn't get to try them out, but he'd already guessed what their fate was. After all, the last few weeks had been expensive and these three would be worth good money from buyers looking for haughty American women to break. Castle on the other hand; he had other plans for him.

"They will, you just got to have the right leverage which thanks to you four, I now have" He looked over at Ruiz. "Grab Castle and bring him downstairs, we're gonna need to send a message and he just got elected"

With that he turned and headed downstairs.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Temperance Brennan's viewpoint

I'd come up to deliver our preliminary report on forensics from Jane and Maura's house, we'd not located any fingerprints on the property that didn't belong to anyone who didn't belong there. I'd responded to the call and arrived on scene, finding Ana, Liv and Kate standing there shell-shocked. Apparently Jane had found their badly injured terrier, whimpering in pain and terror, in the corner of their bedroom and had raced it off to their vet.

I'd taken charge of the scene from a forensics point of view, calling in more of the team to help out; those who weren't already working the fire fight at the motel. Now then, having delivered the report to the detectives I was talking quietly with Booth as we stood around in the Major Crimes section, surrounded by the larger squad as they spoke amongst themselves. Chief Johnson was upstairs with the LAPD head, Chief Pope, giving him a briefing and probably, according to the members of her team, having Pope venting his frustrations at her. The whole team was in various stages of shock, to have four of our own kidnapped, it was a big enough to shake all of us; to their partners…

Olivia and Kate and the others were sitting together in the conference room, obviously oscillating between fear, anger and despair, something we all realised but could little to combat. In the meantime the team was discussing the kidnapping, naturally.

"What I want to know is how they knew where to hit?" It was Duquesne.

"Followed them home maybe?" suggested Taylor, getting a shake of the head from Mendoza.

"They were having dinner together, so no one would have expected them to all go to the same place, or leave early that day"

"Maybe they were followed another day" It was Flynn "I dunno but they found them all at one place"

"I'd say that they weren't expecting to find all four there" It was Caine, drawing questioning looks as I tipped my head to listen.

"How come?" Mendoza asked, flicking a glance to where Liv, Ana and the others were sitting, off to one side through the conference room glass, not saying much, just…sitting. "How do you figure that?" Caine shrugged.

"Three of them have profiles here, they've all had media exposure, but no one knew Castle was here, we didn't tell anyone and he didn't, so I don't think they expected him"

"That leaves Natalie, Alex and the Doc" It was Provenza. "They somehow found them"

"How?" It was Hoyt, sitting back against a desk. "I'm guessing their location isn't public knowledge right?"

"It could be a leak in any number of places, DMV, services, the LAPD database, their phones may have been tapped and traced via GPS" Taylor grimaced. "I don't know"

"I can perhaps help with that" It was Khan; he had been sitting there listening quietly, not saying much. We turned as he spun his chair back to his computer and started typing rapidly.

"I can undertake a number of searches across the LAPD database and that of other city agencies, I will try and ascertain if a search for the personal details of Miss Cabot, Miss Dearing or Doctor Isles has been undertaken recently" He looked round then lowered his voice. "Or on their partners" There was a round of nods at that, given the state they were in no one wanted to be the one to suggest that our fellow detectives had somehow been the sign pointing towards their partners.

Before anyone could speak Brenda walked briskly back into the room, she'd been called up to brief the LAPDs head, a Chief Pope, apparently at times an unpleasant experience.

"Detectives, what do we have?" I looked round before stepping forward; I might as well be first.

"We have completed the initial forensic examination of the premises. Unfortunately we have been unable to locate any fingerprints that do not belong to the occupants" I grimaced then continued. "We did locate several footprints in the garden bed to the side of the house, both from work-boot soles, a male size 11 and another, also male, size 9, we were able to match the size 11 to a footprint on the tiles at the rear of the house, so it appears that at least two individuals made their way down the side of the house while others ingressed via the front door" Chief Johnson nodded.

"Thank you Doctor, nothing else?" I shook my head.

"We are attempting to match the boot sole patterns to specific manufacturers but with no success so far" I shook my head in frustration. "The absence of prints suggests they wore gloves or were extremely careful to avoid touching anything" At that the Chief nodded and looked around.

"Do we have anything on the van?" Taylor shook his head.

"A neighbour saw it, only noticed it because it took off out of there in a hell of a hurry, not something usual in that area, but they didn't get a number" He shook his head. "I think we'll find it was stolen, used and then dumped somewhere, probably burnt out to destroy any evidence" Brenda nodded curtly.

"Very likely" She looked round. "What about how they were found there, any leads?" Caine stood up from the desk he was leaning against.

"We're looking into that, they could have been followed, their phones might have been hacked, there might be a leak in the bureaucracy, so we're looking into all options"

"Thank you Lieutenant, please keep on it" It was obvious that Chief Johnson was struggling with the knowledge that a number of her close friends were missing, understandable, but also hard. She looked around the group then over at the four women sitting in the conference room, dejection and exhaustion evident in every line of their faces and bodies.

"Keep at it everyone, our colleagues, both those missing and those left behind, are counting on us" Her face hardened. "If you need me, I'll be in the conference room"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes Conference Room**

Jane's viewpoint

I was numb; my body felt like lead, the pain around my heart a match for the one in my head, the only thing I could concentrate on was Maura was missing.

I'd heard the term hole in my heart, now I was learning what they meant, a void which tore you apart as sadness and fear seeped out into every part of your body, everything came back to that; Maura was missing.

Missing, such a euphemism, she'd been taken, kidnapped, because of the job she did and the fact that she was with me, the life we led put her in danger, if she hadn't been investigating this case…I had to stop, I was a cop, we're supposed to deal with facts, not 'might have been's', but it all boiled down to Maura, she was gone.

I should be out there, with the others, tracking her down, but we were all sitting in here, barely speaking, trying to deal with the pain and the loss and the numbness, they were feeling it too, same as I was. Last night we'd been told I couldn't stay at home, it was a crime scene, so we'd made our way, eventually, when we were too tired for anything else, off to the Malibu place where we'd had a fitful night, sleep had come in fits and starts, At one point a crying Ana had appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, her voice low and pained.

"Jane?" I'd just held my arms out and she'd crawled onto the bed and we'd clung to each other for hours, each of us holding the other, interspersed with tears and silent, shaking rage, as I imagined forcing Danny Wynter to talk, to explain what he had done and making him tell me where Maura was. The vividness of the scenario's in my head were terrible, drenched in blood and pain, but nothing else mattered, we had to get them back, Maura and the others, everything else meant nothing compared to that.

I'd finally dragged myself up, disentangling myself from an exhausted Ana, her fitfully sleeping face streaked with mascara and makeup, same as mine must be, something I'd confirmed when I looked in the mirror, I looked terrible, like some Tim Burton scarecrow, I barely recognised the person staring hollowly back at me. I'd walked out into the still-dark house, heading for the kitchen and a coffee when I'd seen Kate and Liv huddled together on another bed, no doubt doing exactly the same thing Ana and I had, someone else to share the loss and sorrow and misery with.

I ended up in the kitchen and put the kettle on, then went to the nearest bathroom and cleaned my face as best I could, wandering back in to find Kate had appeared, she looked as bad as I had. We exchanged nods before I pulled out another cup and the instant. We'd sat for a while, not saying anything, until first Liv then Ana had joined us, sitting there watching the ocean lighten as the sun came up behind LA.

We'd talked, not much, fits and starts mostly, each of us burdened by who wasn't here, by how empty the place sounded without the happy sounds of Nat's laughter and Alex's giggles as Maura gently reproved me for whatever I might be eating, reminding me there were healthier options. At that I grimaced and dropped my head to stare into my almost empty mug, feeling lost and alone, knowing the three here with me felt exactly the same.

Finally we got organised enough to get showered and dressed, with Liv lending me some of Alex's casual clothes, jeans, a plain white blouse and a denim jacket, it tore at me to wear them and her even more, but I needed something given I couldn't go home

We drove in to work and parked, making our way into the building, seeing plenty of cops eyeing us off but no one said anything, probably for the best given how I felt, it might have helped, or I might have bitten their heads off. All I could think was why are they here, why aren't they searching for her, as ridiculous as that was. It was stupid and I knew it, but it didn't change how I felt.

We arrived in Major Crimes to see the whole team was already in and working, they looked up to see us and gave us nods, there really wasn't much more to say. We sat there and tried to get busy, with varying degrees of success, when Brenda walked in. She got to the point.

"I have to brief Chief Pope, after that we need to talk, so please stick around until I can see you" I just knew what she was going to say, she was going to kick us off the case, that's what the regs said she had to do. We nodded and Liv spoke up.

"We'll be here" With that Brenda nodded and headed out again as I sat there for a moment, then started fishing round in my drawers for a USB.

"What are you looking for?" It was Ana, sitting next to me. I dropped my voice and glanced around before replying.

"I want to back up everything I can, I know we're going to be thrown off the case" Ana's face tightened before she nodded.

"I have a 256 gig one in my draw, I'll go get it" With that she was up and away, probably happy to have something to do. She was back soon and I started the download, even as everyone tried to work around us. Finally the silences and sad glances got too much and we relocated into the conference room, going over witness reports and the forensics from the fire fight.

"More M4s and body armour" It was Kate. "Simmonds or Wynter or whoever sure stocked up on Army surplus"

"Not to mention the RDX as well, the bomb guys suspect almost a kilo was used: Liv said, looking up from the report. "You probably saved all our lives Jane, if we'd kicked the door in…" She left that unsaid and it was quiet for a while. Ana was the next to speak.

"These M4s are from a different batch than the last" I looked up.

"How do you know?" She held up one of Buzz's crime scene shots showing the M4 laying where it had been dropped, the weapon was dark against the concrete, a trickle of blood entering the picture from the top right.

"That's standard jungle camo finish, the last batch were in the current desert camouflage, these came from different batches" Kate looked up.

"What does that mean?" Ana shrugged a bit listlessly before answering.

"I don't know, but I'll pass it along" She picked up her phone and sent off an email as we went back to our reading, until we'd finished and found ourselves sitting there, not quite sure what to do next.

It wasn't long after that Brenda returned; she spoke to the rest of the team for a bit then headed our way as Liv spoke.

"Here comes Brenda" We all looked up as she approached and paused in the doorway. She went to say something when she was interrupted, Andy Flynn's voice cutting across the room.

"Heads up! We got something!"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Kate Murphy's viewpoint

I had walked up to Major Crimes, we'd identified the patterns on the boots, one was a US Army pattern boot while the other was a popular boot commonly sold through both Army Surplus stores, though not Army issue, and the Big 5 chain of outdoor stores. It wasn't much but it might be something and so I'd walked it up as soon as we'd identified the brands, every little bit might help the investigation. I'd just walked in and had started to speak with Calleigh Duquesne when Andy Flynn's voice had rung out across the room.

"Heads up! We got something!"

Every head turned at that as he uncovered his phone and spoke to whoever was on the other end, "Where? When? Okay, get a couple of Black and Whites on their way there right now" Flynn looked round, phone in his hand as the room fell silent. "911 just got a message that there's a package addressed to Chief Johnson about the abductees that's stashed in a stormwater drain out in Industry, near the landfill. I've got a couple of units on the way" Brenda was already walking out of the conference room as I saw Olivia and Anastasia and the others standing there.

"Did the caller say what's in it?" She asked, getting a shake of the head from Andy as he replied.

"Just that it was a message for the Chief" I thought about saying something when Caine stepped in as I shared a look with Calleigh, hope warring with fear as we stood there.

"It might be a message, or it might be something else entirely" He looked to Brenda. "You might want the bomb squad to check it out first" I nodded grimly and I wasn't the only one, they'd already tried for the Chief once, this could be a second chance, something Provenza backed up.

"Simmonds does like his explosives" he pointed out, drawing nods from a few people as Brenda spoke.

"Good point Lieutenant" She looked to Flynn. "Get the bomb squad rolling as well" Before he could speak Taylor spoke up, an occupational hazard I guess with so many Alpha personalities in one place.

"Hazmat too Chief, these bastards are smart and ruthless" I could see her thinking that over before she nodded as several others did as well.

"Them too please Lieutenant Flynn" Ten agonising minutes later we had confirmation that there was a package wedged in the drain, at that we headed down to the aptly-named City of Industry, I'd accompanied them as the forensics team representative, we'd ending up standing round in a hastily-erected command post under a marquee as we waited while the bomb squad and Hazmat did their thing. I didn't miss that the cops with us were on edge, all of them were jumpy. I knew it was a bad time for everyone but they seemed extra alert so, taking the chance I grabbed Stella Bonasera, the cop from New Orleans, and asked why. She didn't mince words.

"They've successfully dragged the cops investigating their case out of headquarters and down here out into the open, including the Chief and the three CSI's who they've already tried to kill, now we're sitting ducks out here, they've set the bait and now we're here" I nodded in understanding and stepped back with a thanks as I looked around, seeing the warehouses and open lots surrounding us as something far more threatening than they had first appeared, fortunately I could see police officers taking up spots covering some of the best vantage points.

The next hour passed slowly as we got more and more edgy, none more so than Jane, Ana, Olivia and Kate, they were sitting huddled together in a group, not talking, just staring at the ground as we let them be, I mean what the hell do you say to someone in their situation?

"They're coming!" We looked up to see a LAPD Lieutenant heading our way, still wearing the bottom part of a bomb technician's protective dress. He walked up to us as we moved to stand around.

"Chief Johnson" he nodded.

"Lieutenant Chandler" she greeted him. "What do we have?" Chandler shook his head grimly.

"Nothing good I'm afraid" He put the small cardboard box down on the table and pushed the flaps back, you could see where they had been secured with packing tape.

"There's a USB in there, plus…well well…a finger, looks like it's from a male" There was a stifled sob as I turned to see Kate had gone white, Olivia already moving to stand beside her, her arm wrapping around Kate's shoulders, Jane, Olivia and Ana's faces were halfway between fear and shock. Chandler's gloved fingers lifted out the USB and placed it on the table, then lifted out a blood soaked piece of cloth and laying it gently beside it, then carefully opening it up to reveal what I easily determined was a left pinkie finger from an obviously male hand, severed at the base of the finger.

There was a sudden retching sound behind me as I looked to see Kate Beckett bent over, emptying her stomach even as Liv held her hair back, not that I could blame Kate, many of the people here had gone pale. Finally Brenda spoke, her voice strained.

"Get them both bagged, I want fingerprints done on that package and the USB, and I want…that…" she indicated the bloody finger. "…rushed to the morgue and identified. We need to be sure who it came from" I grimaced, I didn't think there was too much doubt really but I guess she was trying to be sure. Remembering her comment about the morgue I rang Brennan back at the Parker Centre and gave her a heads up about what was coming her way, getting a quiet thank you in return, plus a commitment that she would do the work herself.

I ended the call and looked up to see people moving around; obviously Brenda had started assigning people to jobs. There wasn't much I could do, the package was already being walked to a squad car for a fast run back to the Parker Centre before I saw Brenda heading towards the tight knot of our four grief-stricken detectives, Kate wasn't crying but she wasn't exactly composed either; as for the other three, well their faces were tightly rigid, holding their fears at bay by sheer force of will. They turned at Brenda's approach; I was close enough to hear what she said.

"By rights I should relieve you from this investigation" seeing their faces change she held her hand up to forestall their angry responses. "That's what the regulations say but I might be able to skate round them" The four suddenly-furious women facing her held their tongues as she continued. "Officially you can't be part of the investigation however I can keep you on as consultants, that means you don't get to go out and be hands on as part of the investigation, you stay in the office but you still get to be involved"

"What do you mean don't go out?" It was Ana.

"Just what it means" Brenda replied, her voice uncompromising. "You stay in the office, the team does the legwork and interviews the suspects, your job is to look at the evidence and feed the team your ideas, they then act on them" There were shaking heads as Jane jumped in, her voice urgent and angry.

"Maura and the others are out there, we need to find them"

"And we will, and you can be part of that, but not in a way that a defence lawyer can get any evidence or actions you were involved with inadmissible" Liv went to speak.

"But…"

"No buts" Brenda waved her hand across the space in front of her, like she was swiping their arguments aside. "That's the bottom line, we have to get them back and do so in a way that ensures that Wynter and all of his people pay for what they've done. We can't do that if they walk because you were hands on while having a massive conflict of interest"

"So we sit there while everyone else tries and finds them?" Kate demanded, getting a nod from Brenda.

"Unfortunately yes, but you'll be going over every piece of evidence, every witness transcript, you'll be an integral part of this investigation" She looked from one to the other. "I know it's not what you want to hear but at least this way you will still be involved, even though regulations say you should be pulled off the case"

"Stuff the regulations…" It was Jane. "Chief…" she pleaded, to no avail.

"I'm sorry Jane, I'm sorry for all of you, I understand some of what you're feeling, if someone had taken Sharon…but it's all I can offer, otherwise you're off the case and assigned somewhere else that's not Major Crimes, probably Robbery / Homicide, for the duration of this case" There was an angry exchange of glances shared between all four women, a lot not being said but plenty being communicated before Liv finally nodded.

"Okay, we'll play it your way" Brenda nodded and went to say something when Ana cut in, her voice dark and bitter.

"For now"


	69. Chapter 69

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **69 Papal Intervention**

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Maura's viewpoint

We'd been left behind after Simmonds' walked out, followed by the two men who had released Rick and forced him to follow at gun point, leaving us sitting there, sharing fearful looks as we waited, shifting occasionally as our body's cramped on the cold concrete floor, we each had one hand cuffed to a pipe running along the wall, water or gas, it was too solid to move to any force we could generate. We talked desultorily, in fits and starts, as we waited, unsure of what was happening.

It was perhaps ten minutes before Simmonds returned, a camera in his hand as he walked in. He smiled at us, not particularly reassuring given his history and spoke, lifting the camera and zooming in as he did.

"This for the folks back home, so smile for the camera" I most certainly did not, even as the others were equally unmoved. He panned the camera across all of us before he ended it. "Let's hope your cop friends play ball and give me what I want" I felt like reiterating Natalie's earlier comment that the police did not negotiate but realised that I would be wasting my breath. Simmonds had set out on his course of action and was now left with no choice but to see it through to the end. He shrugged at our silence before turning and walking away, leaving us looking back and forth.

"What did they want with Rick?" Natalie asked, fear in her voice, drawing a response from Alexandra.

"They said they were going to send a message, perhaps they got him to read a message for the camera" I frowned grimly and shook my head.

"I think not, otherwise why would they choose the one person amongst us who has no ties to the local law enforcement community?" Natalie looked from Alexandra to I and back again.

"Then why?" I glanced at Alexandra and seeing the grim cast to her features I deduced that her thoughts had gone in the same distressing direction mine had.

"I believe that our captors are threatening him on camera to demonstrate their resolve in this matter" I said, drawing a grim nod from Alexandra, taking in Natalie's fearful expression, before I reached out and pulled her close as she shook silently for a few moments, exchanging a glance over her shoulder with a worried Alexandria..

It was quiet for the next few minutes until were interrupted by the sound of footsteps from the corridor outside, Natalie sitting back and wiping her eyes as we looked to the door, to see one of our captors guiding a pale-faced Rick ahead of him. I immediately spotted the rough bandage around his hand, making me fear the worse as the man spoke.

"Look after your friend here" Alexandra stood and tried to go to him but was stopped by the handcuff.

"What did you do to him?" He shrugged, pushing Rick to the wall and cuffing his other arm to the pipe; Rick was obviously in too much shock to resist as Alexandra helped him to sit. As we watched he slumped heavily and instinctively cradled his hand to his chest.

"Simmonds wanted to send a message, so he chopped a finger off and is gonna send it to the cops" he said, drawing gasps from Alexandra and I and tears from Natalie as she reached for Rick. The man snorted mirthlessly as he stood back. "He always was a crazy son of a bitch"

"Then why are you here with him?" Alexandra asked challengingly, drawing a shrug.

"Because I'm getting paid a huge pile of money to help him" Given his mercenary motivation I tried appealing to his greed.

"And if you were to be offered a much larger sum?" The man looked at me through narrowed eyes.

"Yeah right, even if you were good for the money…"

"We are" Alexandra interrupted, the man though ignored her.

"…I'd end up spending the rest of my life behind bars" He shook his head. "No thanks, I'd rather be spending my money" Before I could respond Natalie spoke.

"You sure about that, because everyone else whose helped Simmonds out here has wound up dead" She stared up at him, her voice angry and bitter. "Those guys at the hospital, dead, his man at the Sheraton, dead, the van owner, everyone he's used has wound up dead" The man looked at her then smiled.

"Nice try lady, but nope, I'll take a real paycheck over false promises everyday" Natalie stared up at him, anger in her eyes and contempt in her voice.

"Good luck living long enough to spend it, no one else has so far" The man went to say something then gestured at Rick.

"Better you look after your writer friend" With that he turned and went to walk out but I called after him.

"Can we at least get some pain relief medication for our friend, and some clean bandages?" I looked up at him, not above pleading. "Please?" He looked back to Rick and slowly nodded.

"I'll see what I can do" With that he walked away.

 **London The Savoy Hotel**

Hayley Shipton's viewpoint

"You know we're going to be on the first available flight back to the States and out there, you know that right?" I cautioned Kate. "Alexis is going to want to be there and I'm not even going to try and stop her" Kate's voice on the other end on the line from Los Angeles was tired, understandably so.

"Yeah, I figured as much, but she needs to about her dad know before the media splashes it everywhere, they're going to announce it sooner rather than later" I nodded at that as I looked around the hotel suite in London's West End. We were here in London to visit my family, so Alexis could meet my mum, my sister and my two cousins and they could meet the woman I was in love with. We were staying at the Savoy rather than at mum's place because the walls here were a little too thin for my liking there, I didn't want my mum in the next bedroom hearing everything we'd be doing together, no the hotel was a much better bet, plus the beds were both huge and sinfully comfortable, even if the Savoy was way out of my normal price range. Alexis however had insisted, as she put it, what was the use of money if you couldn't use it to enjoy life's pleasures.

Just because we were halfway round the world didn't mean we hadn't seen some of the shit that was going down in Los Angeles though, the room came with a suite of cable options, including all the news channels. The Sheraton Hotel bombing, the attack on that hospital and then the bombing and shootout at that hotel had made news across all the cable telly news stations, plus lead on the BBC world service news, but this, the media hadn't said a word, meaning they didn't know, so Kate's phone call had dropped like a bomb.

"I'll tell Alexis as soon as she gets back" Something I was definitely not looking forward to, her bond with her father was amazing, to be told he was missing….

My love had gone out for a walk with my mum, they'd supposedly gone down to the shop for some milk and other stuff for dinner, but really mum wanted to have a gossip session, probably about me, with Alexis, somewhere they wouldn't be interrupted by me with such trivial things as facts... "In the meantime I'll start looking for flights"

"Let me know when you'll be here" That level of terseness wasn't normal for Beckett, but understandable, while Rick was my friend, he was so much more to her, to the point that I was worried for her state of mind, another reason to get out there as soon as I could.

"I'll call when I know" With that the call ended, I mean what more could I say?

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I was sitting in my office, going over the forensic reports from the discarded FedEx delivery van that had been found dumped a few miles from Maura and Jane's house; while we'd pulled plenty of fingerprints from it, all were from the kidnap victims, obviously the kidnappers had been very careful about their own as they'd left not a trace. I tossed my glasses on the desk in frustration, then schooled myself to be calm; as Sharon had told me more than once, the team takes their lead from their leader and I had a very disparate team of people under me now, I couldn't dare show weakness, not now, not with everyone more than a bit shell-shocked about our four missing team members.

We'd examined the footage gathered by every possible camera that covered traffic in a ten block radius of the site where the finger and USB had been located, unfortunately we'd not gotten anything, way too many vehicles coming and going to get any leads there.

The USB was the same, a standard Lexmark 32 gig USB you could buy at any office supply shop in America; it too had been wiped clean of any possible prints. Khan was using every IT forensic tool he'd ever heard of trying to get something from the USB, plus he'd been in constant contact with the Bureau's cyber-crime people in Washington but so far all they'd been able to confirm was that the USB had been plugged into a Dell laptop and an AVI file copied onto it, then unplugged, The AVI file had been taken on a modern Canon camera, one that had both stills and video capability, saved onto a Lexmark SD card and then copied onto the USB. Frankly I was amazed they could find that much but I wasn't a computer expert; that I left to the ones who were, like Kahn, so they could work their particular magic.

By the time Brennan had confirmed that the finger came from Castle, thanks to some rapid liaison work with the New York Crime Lab; as it turned out they had Castle's DNA and fingerprints on file, we'd managed to confirm it via the video on the USB. It had been harrowing viewing; the camera, probably set up on a tripod, had stayed focused on an old, deeply-scarred wooden bench top as a deep, strong male voice spoke.

"You're a writer aren't you Mister Castle?" Rick's voice was easily recognizable as he replied, the camera's microphone picking everything up clearly.

"Yeah"

"Have you, in all your research, come across the term Yubitsume?" There was a moment's pause before Rick spoke, his voice terse.

"Yakuza thing, cutting off a finger joint to atone for a mistake"

"Not bad" the disembodied voice had replied. "While we're not the yak, that's what's going to happen here"

"Like hell it is" was Rick's quick retort. The other man was unmoved.

"Now that's where you're wrong Castle" You see I have to send a message to the LAPD, let them know we're serious. They release a friend of ours…"

"Wynter" Rick interjected.

"Yep, they release him and we let you go. Mind you we know all about the whole not negotiate thing the cops have going so we're going to send them a message, reminding them how serious we are" There was a pause. "You're that message"

"So you cut a joint off a finger as a message and hope the LAPD just lets your boss go?" Rick asked tersely. The response was brutally matter of fact.

"No man, we cut a whole finger and send it to them, send them a fucking big message" There were sounds of a struggle before the man spoke again. "Stop struggling you fucker, otherwise I'll take a finger from one of the women, maybe that blonde lawyer" The off-screen struggling noises died down. "There, that's better" Rick's voice was low and angry.

"If I get out of this, I'm coming after you" The male was unconcerned.

"Sure you will" Rick's next statement was unequivocal.

"If I don't, my partner will and you'd wish it'd been me, I might let you live, she won't" The male voice chuckled for a few seconds at that, even as I decided Rick was utterly correct about Kate, she and the others were in a dangerous state, far too dangerous to be let near a suspect.

"You got balls Castle, I gotta give you that" You could hear the smile in the voice, Simmonds' I was guessing. "Tell you what; this knife's sharp as I can make it. If you don't struggle, it's gonna do the job nice and quick and clean, almost like popping a cork" He paused then continued. "Make it difficult, well it's gonna be neither quick nor clean" There was a pause. "Your call" Rick was silent for a few seconds before he replied.

"Not like I have a choice" Simmonds chuckled for a moment before replying, the bastard..

"Nope, one way or other a fingers coming off, you decide how hard it is" There was a long pause before Rick spoke, low and angry.

"Okay"

"Good man, for that you get to decide which finger" There was silence for a few seconds before Rick's reluctant voice spoke.

"Left pinkie"

"Okay; that it is. Put your hand down on the bench and spread the fingers as wide apart as they go" A hand, Castle's obviously, appeared on the screen, being pushed down flat onto the wooden bench as two other hands held his wrist and hand. Another hand appeared in screen, dark skinned, African-American, most likely Simmonds, he was African-American and was apparently Wynter's hatchet man so this was likely his work, holding a knife, Taylor had already identified it as a US Army bayonet, almost certainly the same one used to kill Chen Hui-Lee. Be that as it may the dark hand pushed the pinkie finger out at an angle then addressed someone else. "Hold the other fingers off out of the way"

The Caucasian hand holding Castle's hand moved, forcing the other three fingers away from the pinkie. The blade point came to rest between the pinkie and the others near the webbing, blade pointing to the pinkie as the man spoke.

"You pull away or flinch, I'll take two fingers you hear me?"

"I hear you, get it over with and don't screw it up" Rick's voice replied, his tone understandably strained.

The blade dropped, it was so fast, one second the hand was there whole, the next the pinkie was rolling away out of sight as blood spurted; the video carried Rick's sudden moan and an agonised intake of breath.

"Get his hand dressed up, we don't want him bleeding to death" Rick's hand was released and pulled back out of sight and the man's voice continued, obviously addressing the camera.

"This finger's the first part of our hostages we send back. Confirm the release of Danny Wynter through his lawyer and you can have them back intact" There was a small sound, almost a chuckle. "Well almost intact. We're not unreasonable, we understand there's processes to go through to have Danny Wynter released so we'll give you some time, but if we haven't heard something in 72 hours, well, the next part will be his hand, sent to a television studio" The sound came again, louder, definitely a chuckle. "That ought to make great prime time viewing" The dark hand appeared in frame as it dropped the pinkie onto the wooden bench, blood leaking from the amputation joining the rest of the blood already there. "72 hours from midnight the day you get this finger or Castle loses a hand"

The image shifted, showing Natalie, Maura and Alex on a sitting on a dusty concrete floor, their backs to a painted brick wall; they each had a hand held above them, handcuffed to a pipe, gas or water, I couldn't tell. The same voice was heard.

"This for the folks back home so smile for the camera" None did, starring defiantly at him of towards the cameras the camera played across all three for a few seconds, close enough that you could see that each appeared unharmed, but also close enough to ensure there was no clue to the location.

With that the screen went dark, leaving me shaking slightly all over again. I knew Rick Castle, not that well but enough to leave me feeling ill just seeing that tape again, I couldn't comprehend how Kate was even functional; she'd demanded to see it and had done so in the media room with only Jane, Anna and Liv there. They'd been there for a long time; when they emerged her face was tightly composed thought I could see the last vestiges of red eyes, outwardly though she'd been calm, scarily so. They all had in fact; making me wonder what would happen should that tight control crack. I hoped like hell I wouldn't have to find out.

Be that as it may, I was doing my best to keep them under control and involved without them going off half-cocked on their own, in the mood those four were in god help a suspect they might get their hands on. Wynter had been beaten to a broken pulp and they weren't even angry at him, if they got their hands on someone involved in the kidnapping… I grimaced at the thought of what they'd do and shook my head, trying to banish the dark thoughts before my meeting.

I'd just about got myself kinda calm when I saw Pope appear in the entrance and make his way towards my office, sending both my blood pressure and annoyance level skyrocketing simultaneously as I tried to hide my concern, every time Will Pope showed up in my Murder Room trying to apply his special brand of 'help'; it always ended badly; my life and cases worked just fine without his ignorant and most definitely unwanted and unwarranted meddlin', thank you very much. He walked into my office and nodded.

"Chief Johnson" I nodded politely as he sat down in one of my visitor's chairs.

"Will" He looked round my office and spoke.

"As you can imagine, I'm getting no end of grief from the Mayor's and Governor's offices about this kidnapping" He turned his gaze on me "Where have you got with it?" I sighed.

"Honestly, not all that far, no witnesses saw anything other than a black van that had been stolen an hour earlier pull up then leave a couple of minutes later; a Sheriff's patrol car found the van dumped in a car park in Santa Monica this afternoon" I shook my head. "We assume they were moved to another vehicle at that point. Unfortunately forensics didn't get much useful out of the van besides confirming the hostages had been in there" Will nodded once at me then followed up with another question.

"Right, anything else?" he said. In response I tapped the paperwork in front of me.

"Obviously it's related to our arrest of Wynter, and almost certainly tied in to the attack on me yesterday, but we don't have any concrete proof of that" He pulled a face before speaking.

"You're sure of that, the link I mean?" I frowned.

"Yes, that video confirms it, not that there was much doubt even before we saw it, they're all working on the only case of any consequence we have at the moment, the bombings and the related sex trafficking case" I said, drawing a nod in return.

"So what do I tell the Mayor and the Governor?" he asked, making me shrug in return.

"That we are leaving no stone unturned as we try and locate our colleagues" At my words he frowned.

"So you have nothing?" I shook my head as I reminded the arrogant ass of what we'd managed to achieve in a remarkably short space of time.

"We have what appears to be one of the heads of a long-term nationwide sex trafficking ring in a prison hospital under guard, we are tracking down all known associates going back to his time in the military in Iraq, seeing if we can find a lead there, we're still tearing Wynter's house apart looking for clues, plus the forensics investigation is still underway, looking for connections to the bombing, the deaths of the witnesses and the kidnap site" He frowned at me.

"So you have nothing concrete?" he stated, making me frown in turn, the pompous, clueless ass.

"I will point out that we still have the Sheraton bombing investigation running, which includes a knife murder, an assassination and a four fatality drive-by as a consequence, the almost new Mercy General attack and on top of that yesterday's attack on us, which resulted in five more dead, including two uniformed officers and then the kidnapping of our people. That's a total of 21 dead in a little over a week, well 26 if you count the dead assailants" I shook my head. "It's not like we've exactly been dragging our feet" Pope was like a dog worrying at a bone.

"But you have nothing solid?"

"We have what we have and are working to find leads Will, I can't conjure them from thin air" He frowned at me as he spoke.

"That's not going to go down well with the Mayor in particular" At his words I shrugged and responded with the truth.

"I didn't vote for the man" His face darkened in anger.

"I don't need jokes Brenda!" he snarled, drawing a shrug from me, I was too tired to bite back.

"I've told you what we have right now, I'm sorry if it's not what they want to hear" Will gave me a single nod then replied.

"The Governor seems particularly concerned" I frowned, attributing poor motives to the man but not terribly concerned; he was a politician after all.

"Probably terrified that his financial support from the Isles' and Cabot fortunes won't eventuate if they're not found" At my words Will looked at me suspiciously.

"That is hardly the attitude I expected from you Chief Johnson" he said, making me shrug again.

"Look Will, I get that they're on your case, I really do understand, but I'm currently trying to come to terms with the fact several people I really care about, some of my closest friends, are missing" I shook my head, angry and exasperated and tired and frustrated all at once, then looked over at him. "Tell them that this case is of personal interest to many members of the LAPD and other law enforcement organisations and we are doing all we possibly can to find them"

As he nodded I caught movement behind him, seeing people gathering in the main room, I checked my watch and saw it was almost 3 PM, I had a team meeting scheduled to review the case and assign tasks.

"If you'll excuse me Chief, I have an investigation to run and a team to manage" He nodded abruptly then stood.

"I'll let you to it then" He stood and followed me out, as I heard him speak behind me. "What the hell?" He reached out and grabbed my arm, turning me to face him. "What are they doing here, Rizzoli and Benson and the others?" I shook my head.

"Assisting in the investigation, all of them are good detectives and they have a vested interest in the case" He shook his head.

"They can't be here, how the hell can you let them? You know what the regs are?" I frowned at that kind of foolishness then tried to explain.

"Do you really expect they'll sit around waiting to be told what we're doing?" I shook my head and swiped my hand across the space between us like I was waving away that stupidity. "This way I get to control their actions as part of a team but not actually doing the legwork or talking to suspects, consulting, not investigating" Pope just shook his head.

"No, the rules are there for a reason, if you won't put a stop to this I will" I tried to grab him but he dodged my hand and strode into the centre of the room where everyone was watching him.

"Rizzoli, Benson, you're off the case" He turned to look around the room, settling on another. "Same goes for you as well Beckett" I took in the looks on their faces, a mix of anger, frustration and disbelief even as Will tried to ease the blow. "I'm sorry, I know this must be hard for you but regulations state that you can't be involved" Jane was marginally quicker.

"You have got to be joking?" Olivia was next by less than a second.

"Not a chance" Kate was right behind her.

"Sorry to break this to you but we are involved, it's our partners they kidnapped" Will made a stab at being understanding.

"I understand, but LAPD regulations state that that you can't be on this case" Olivia's response was low and angry.

"To hell with regulations, not only are they our partners but three of them are LAPD civilians or government employees" Kate nodded and turned to Pope, the fierce anger visible in every line of her face and body.

"And Castle is a NYPD consultant" Will was unmoved.

"I'm sorry, I understand you're not happy but my order stands" He crossed his arms, trying for authority and not really pulling it off. "You are all off the case, effective immediately. If necessary I'll have you escorted out of the building"

"You'll do what?" It was Olivia, her voice equal parts appalled and angry. Professionally I could understand where Will was coming from but he'd handled it so damned poorly, just as I'd feared so I wasn't all that surprised to see Jane be the first to react, her voice crackling with cold anger and the look in her eyes was murderous.

"So I'm off the case am I? Fine, here" She pulled her badge off her belt and slammed it down on the desk in front of her, then unclipped her Glock in its holster and did the same before turning on Pope, her entire body trembling with barely-contained anger, I'd never seen her so enraged. "If you know what's good for you Pope, you'll stay the hell out of my god-damned way"

Even as Pope recoiled from the sheer venom in Jane's voice we watched as both Kate and Olivia's badges and weapons were slammed down on the table before the three stared him down, eyes angry and contemptuous, making him look away. For a moment I was glad they'd discarded their weapons, the looks on their faces were all equally murderous, they were already at breaking point and Will had pushed them way too hard.

"Stay out of our way you pompous ass" Kate grated out.

"This isn't over you prick" Liv added then led the way out, turning and stalking off through the crowd which silently parted in front of her as Jane and Kate followed, everyone watching as all three exited the door before all eyes turned back to stare at Pope while I wondered where Ana was, turning to see her surrepticiously palming a USB from Jane's computer, my eyes narrowing as I wondered what she'd done while everyone's eyes were on Pope and the others.

Will, obviously uneasy at the scrutiny from everyone in the room, turned his head, looking for something, or someone.

"Where's...oh there you are. Sorry Romanov, but as soon as I talk to Director Martinez, you'll be off the case as well" The look she turned on him was dire.

"Don't bother, I'll save you the trouble" Standing, her Bureau I.D. was contemptuously flung onto the desk to join the two LAPD and one NYPD badges already there, Ana's Glock 19 joined the three other's on the table before she turned and stalked over to where Will was standing, coming to a stop a few inches from him, the anger in her eyes and the venom in her voice was deadly. He may have been taller but she seemed to loom over him, her voice crackling with anger.

"They have my wife you officious bastard, if anything happens to her, you are a dead man, understand?" He recoiled from the hostility and spoke, obvious disbelief in his voice.

"Are you threatening me?" She didn't bother shaking her head.

"No, telling you, pray nothing happens to her or else" Everyone there could see exactly what 'else' was, the murderous rage and contempt in her voice was matched by the cold look in her eyes, she meant every word. Before he could reply she turned and stalked out, leaving a stunned room behind. Will, never a good one at reading a room at the best of times, turned to me.

"Chief Johnson, ensure that they are escorted from the building and any contact they have with the LAPD is severed for the duration of this investigation" I frowned, the gall of the man, he wouldn't know tact if it was staring him in the face. I turned and spotted Mikki and Andy, catching their eye and nodding with my head, seeing them nod and head out after them, obeying the letter of Pope's order but trusting that they'd handle things discretely. I watched them go then rounded on Pope.

"How in the name of all that's holy did you think for one goddamned moment that pulling them off the case was a good thing?" I shook my head. "In a lifetime of stupid decisions, this one sets a new low, even for you" He reared back in surprise then clenched his jaw; I could see the muscles stand out.

"Chief Johnson, you're completely out of line" he said loudly but I didn't care, I was livid.

"No you fool; you're out of line, and out of your mind. By keeping them inside the investigation, I could control them, guide them; keep them watched, controlled and away from the suspects. You've just forced those four women off the reservation; do you have any idea what you've just done?" Pope drew himself up to his full height, looking for some kind of authority and failing badly.

"I've upheld the regulations, something I would have expected you to have done, you having them working this case was a mistake, completely against every regulation in the book" I sighed, I'd always known he could be an idiot, but this set a new low.

"No, you've just cut them loose, that means they don't have to play by the rules anymore, or your precious regulations either. They'll go out on their own and God help anyone who tries to stop them" Pope was unimpressed, too angry to realise what he'd done.

"They won't get far without help" He looked round the room. "There is to be no help of any kind provided to them, do I make myself absolutely clear?" Pope looked around and saw the resentful and reluctant nods throughout the room as I went to pull his ire away from the team and back to me. Before I could speak though Andrea Hobbs' clear voice spoke up from the back of the room, I hadn't even seen her there.

"They won't want or need your help" The throng parted as people turned towards her voice, revealing her standing there, arms crossed and an angry expression on her face. "Through their partners Rizzoli, Beckett and Benson combined are millionaires many hundreds of times over; that sort of money buys access, aid and resources" as I watched Andrea shrugged then continued. "Romanov isn't wealthy but she's a decorated veteran with friends and contacts throughout the military and the federal bureaucracy" She shook her head slowly. "They don't need you or your help, you've just dumped them on the streets with no control, no restraint and nothing to lose, God help us all" At that perceptive observation I saw nods spreading around the room, something Pope saw as well.

"The rules say…" I couldn't help myself.

"Oh to hell with the rules Will" I went to say something, then stopped myself, turning away for a moment to compose myself before turning back as I spoke, angry beyond concern for what Pope might think as I told him exactly what I thought. "You've just gone and thrown a ticking bomb out into the streets of Los Angeles, god help you when it goes off, because it will and we'll be left cleaning up the aftermath" I shook my head then sighed, I could feel a migraine approaching, courtesy of Pope's idiocy. "I think you should go Chief, you've done enough damage for one day"

Pope looked around, seeing every member of the combined team staring at him silently, contempt in their eyes; embarrassed, he fell back on bluster.

"This isn't over Chief" I just looked up at him, my voice low and angry as I contemplated the appallingly unnecessary disaster he'd just caused.

"You're damn right it isn't, I'm afraid it's just started"


	70. Chapter 70

As always, the characters here are the creation of their respective rights holders and the wonderful actors and actresses who bring them to life for us. Thanks to the powers that be for letting us play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **70 Regrouping**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I sat there, supposedly doing paperwork as I waited for everyone to filter in for the 9am meeting, but in reality I was just running over what I hoped to say in the wake of Pope's crass and inordinately stupid exercise in ego and power yesterday afternoon. In the space of less than 24 hours we'd lost eight people from our team, four unavoidable, four not, several of whom were critical to the case.

I suppose I should have been worried about how Pope was going to act; after I'd all but thrown him out of my Murder Room in front of everyone, but I doubted he'd do much more than rant and rave, at the end of the day the work the team and I did was too important; we closed too many seemingly intractable cases, without us he'd look a lot worse in the eyes of the people who mattered, at least to him, the Mayor, the Governor and the media.

So I dismissed Pope as nothing more than a profoundly annoying irritant and refocused on more important things, like how the kidnappers had found their way to Maura's place, I didn't believe it was chance they'd swept up both the M.E. and the prosecutor handling Wynter's case; that was way too convenient. On the other hand I didn't think that their grabbing either Natalie or Rick Castle was planned given neither was essential to the case in the same way Maura and Alex were.

More likely they were incidental victims, in the wrong place at the wrong time but valuable to their captors none the less. Natalie was a familiar face on media both here in Los Angeles and across the country, especially after the WitSec trial and the attack on Mercy General. Taking Rick Castle was a surprise but as a best-selling author he too was familiar, perhaps the best known of all of them really, so his being recognised by the kidnappers wasn't too far a stretch.

I had several local members of the team, Provenza, Kahn and Mendoza looking into how they'd found Maura's place. The most likely was that they'd been followed, I had Mendoza searching through traffic cameras for any footage while Kahn was digging into the California government computer systems, checking any searches of databases for Maura, Jane, Alex and Olivia's addresses; after the leaks that the Witsec case had exposed, I wasn't taking the chance that someone inside the department was working for Wynter's Cabal.

I was going to have to reassign someone to replace Mendoza though; Sharon, who was very well connected into the Parker Centre grapevine, had let me know that it looked like the DA was going to assign Andrea Hobbs to the case, taking over from Alex, something that would make her a target; if I was going to have to assign someone to look after her, who better than the person she was involved with. Thinking about that reminded me of someone else and I made a quick phone call up to Sharon, a quick conversation later I had her agreement, two were better than one after all. With that out of the way I turned to other thoughts.

The team was going to need settling down though, both the combined M.E. team and my enlarged team of detectives. They'd had two dreadful shocks in less than 24 hours and I needed to calm them down and refocus them on what we had. Losing Mikki on top of both Jane and Liv would normally have been a terrible blow; fortunately I had a number of excellent, experienced detectives at hand, their presence making an ordinarily almost insurmountable job just a little easier. Caine, Bonasera and Taylor were all outstanding; I'd contacted their respective forces, spoken to their superiors and got copies of their service records, based on what I'd read and their respective bosses' verbal recommendations I'd have been happy to have any of them in Major Crimes, to have all three…

They had to be good; I'd lost two outstanding detectives in Jane and Olivia, while both had sung Kate Beckett's praises, something that gelled with what I'd seen of her since she'd been here. Plus the fact that she worked so well with both Jane and Olivia made them even better as a team and their loss to the investigation that much worse.

Then there was Ana Romanov, losing her was a bitter blow to our relations with the Federal bureaucracy. I'd already personally spoken with Director Martinez of the Bureau's LA office, asking to have a good agent sent to replace her but hadn't been left with much confidence after that discussion, I doubted that Martinez really understood how critical Ana had been, nor how much we needed a really good liaison person. I suppose I could ask Agent Booth to cover for her but it really wasn't his area of expertise. I sighed; we were now in this horrible mess so we just had to muddle on through, trusting to the team we had left to pull together.

That reminded me that the M.E. team was in similarly dire straits to my detectives, having lost their leader. With Maura missing I needed to assign someone to take her place on point for the investigation's forensics side; while I had several outstanding forensics people here it really boiled down to Langstrom, Murphy or Brennan, each had their strengths and were used to running their respective organisations but for my mind it had to be Brennan. She had the bigger professional reputation plus she'd been running the Jefferson's forensics section for longer than either Langstrom or Murphy had been running their teams, giving her seniority over the others. As it was temporary and only with regards to this case, I didn't need to get the Mayor's approval, given he appointed the M.E. Instead Maura's deputy, Doctor Hollows, would step up to cover for her as lead M.E. for Los Angeles County until Maura was back.

With that settled I started mentally moving my team around to cover the holes in our investigation, trying to match strengths to requirements when, for a moment, I paused, my mind turning to Kate. She'd stayed with Liv and the others last night, no doubt that had been a dark and miserable night for all of them but worst for her, I was desperately worried about their mental state without their partners there, it sure seemed like each of them had found a lighter, brighter partner to offset their own dark intensity, without them there… I shook my head slowly, unable to comprehend the pain each was going through and desperately hoping I'd never be in a position to be able to.

I was disturbed by a discreet knock on the door; startled from my reverie I looked up to see Andy Flynn standing there leaning in as both the investigative and forensics teams gathered out in the squad room.

"We're good to go chief" I nodded and stood.

"Why thank you Lieutenant" He didn't move, dropping his voice as he spoke.

"Are you okay Chief?" For a second I just appreciated Andy's concern, then took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"No, but I will be" He nodded as I headed round my desk and out of my office. "Let's get this dog and pony show on the road" He gave me a smile, a little rueful, as I passed him, making my way to the front of the room, Andy trailing after me as I walked out to stand in front of the wall of whiteboards covered by text, drawings and images, turning to face the assembled teams, all eyes on me.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen" I looked around, seeing so many new faces and so few familiar ones. "Thank you all so much for coming" I paused for a moment and decided to address the monumental elephant taking up a large section of the room. "I am sure you have all heard about what happened yesterday, those who weren't here to see that thoroughly unedifying spectacle in person" Many people nodded, others just shook their heads, some couldn't meet my eyes even as I silently raged, ' _God damn you_ _Will Pope!_ '

"With detective's Rizzoli, Benson, Beckett and Special Agent Romanov no longer working this case or available to consult, it places a significant strain on the rest of our team. Taken together with the…absence…of Doctor Isles, Miss Dearing, Deputy District Attorney Cabot and Mister Castle, we have been dealt a grievous blow" I took a breath then pushed on.

"That said I have the greatest of confidence in you all" I looked round the room of officers and forensics specialists. "Some of you I've worked with, others have joined us for this case from across the country. I spent last night reviewing your records and your accomplishments speak for themselves. I'm grateful to have you here with us on this case" I took two steps to the side and gestured at the whiteboards.

"I've called you in for a quick review of where our investigation is and where we go next" My eyes sought out one of the forensics people. "Before we continue, I have one announcement to make. Doctor Brennan will take over as lead forensics specialist for this case. The day to day operation of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office will devolve to Doctor Isles' senior Medical Examiner, Doctor Hollows, he will manage the more routine operations of the team and their regular case load, but for the purposes of this case, Doctor Brennan will lead the investigation" Brennan looked a little surprised then nodded once.

"As you wish Chief" I looked round the rest of the group.

"I understand that many of you are qualified for the role; however Doctor Brennan's role with the Jeffersonian and her expertise should help us focus on the evidence in this case" There were no dissenters so I turned to the board.

"Let's review where we are now then…"

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Olivia's viewpoint

"Let's review where we are now then…"

I looked across at Jane and nodded. We'd regrouped at our house. It was the biggest place, the most secluded and it was way more secure than Jane or Ana's places or my hotel, something we all appreciated after what had happened. Besides Jane's house was still a crime scene, she'd only been allowed in under escort to grab fresh clothes, collect their turtle, Bass, for delivery to the vet and to check in on Jo, who was recovering from hours-long surgery after being apparently kicked by one of the kidnappers, breaking five ribs and doing internal injuries. Jane's face as she'd emerged from the vet surgery after spending some time with Jo, who was still unconscious with a breathing tube down her throat, had been tightly held but the anger there was screaming for a release, something I understood all too well.

We'd got a bunch of whiteboards on wheeled stands delivered first thing this morning from an office supply place and got them set up in the dining room, close to both the kitchen and a bathroom. We'd also got several boxes of copy paper delivered to allow us to print out most of the backup case files from the USB that Ana had grabbed while Pope was busy kicking us off the team, pinning them up on the boards in bundles with magnets. Other boards had been filled with notes, theories and whatever else came to mind.

It helped to have something to focus onto, it'd be all too easy to descend into constant worry about what was happening to Alex and the others, I knew the others were terrified of getting a call telling them another video had been received; god knows I was. Last night had been hard, sitting with Kate last night I'd seen her struggling to hold it together, so without thinking I'd pulled her into my arms, encouraging her to let go and cry, she had, setting me off and the others as well, eventually we'd fallen asleep on the couch, I'd woken to find blankets over us, with Ana and Jane asleep on the other couches nearby.

We'd forced each other to get showered, dressed and forced down breakfast before throwing ourselves back into the investigation, Pope could say what he wanted but none of us were going to leave that to anyone else, not for something as critical as this, so we'd channelled everything into trying to replicate the investigation and find our partners.

"The others can deal with the big picture, trying to shut down the Cabal, we need to concentrate on what's happening here" There were nods all round at Jane's words before she turned back to the white board. "So Simmonds sent a group of his people after ours, which begs the question, how did they know where they were, and when they'd be there?"

"I know Brenda had Khan looking into that, if there was a leak they'll find it" Liv shook her head. "If it was one of ours…"

"Yeah" Ana looked like she wanted to spit. "Anyway that's out of our hands, we need to focus on what we can do" She looked to Jane. "That's Simmonds' work here in Los Angeles, and the people he's got working for him"

"Agreed, the I.D. recovered from the attackers at the motel pointed to them being Columbian nationals, plus there were warrants out for them from the Columbian Police, pretty much for the same sort of thing they did here, so they were shooters for one of the cartels" I said, getting a nod from Kate who took up the thread.

"While it's disturbing that he had cartel killers on tap, I'm pretty sure they weren't working for free, that sort of attitude, skill and mind set wouldn't have come cheap; plus Simmonds had to have paid for them up front" She shrugged. "Damned little honour and trust between criminals"

"If he threw them away as a diversion that's an expensive waste of money" I commented, drawing a reply from Jane.

"I don't think it was just a diversion, I mean he could have gutted the investigative team with that bomb if we'd kicked in the door, plus the Columbian's were definitely after Brenda, Mendoza heard them say it"

"That's Simmonds' military training talking" It was Ana. "Decapitation strike, take out the top of the command chain and then get inside the enemy's decision loop, so they have to respond to what you're doing to them, not the other way round" Jane looked her way as she replied.

"But he missed, so he's reacting"

"Yeah, but he's attempting to get back on top, in his mind he's forcing the LAPD to play his game" Ana said, frowning as I spoke up.

"Okay, so they respond, follow protocols, do things their way, straight out of the police playbook, Simmonds may have read it, so that means we have to come at it from another angle" I suggested, getting questioning looks as Jane put it into words.

"Such as?"

"He needs a support system, I mean he's one man, trying to stay out of sight, we've almost caught him twice so far so he needs help" I looked around at the others. "I can't imagine he carried out the…abduction on his own, he had to have had help for that. That help needed access to that FedEx van, did they steal it themselves or did they pay someone to do it?" I asked.

"You're thinking a fixer?" I nodded at Kate's question.

"There's always people out there who will make things like that happen for money, Simmonds probably using one, we need to find out who they are and have a talk to them"

"They may also have helped procure a safe house" Jane suggested, making me think about that for a second before agreeing.

"Good point, I doubt Simmonds had time to do that on top of everything else"

"Plus he has at least four to six people working for him, maybe more" Ana said, at our looks she clarified. "Assume two or three people watching per shift, eight hours on, eight off" Kate frowned.

"I wonder where he found the people necessary to kidnap four people in broad daylight from a house in the suburbs?" she asked, getting a reply from Jane.

"I'd bet good money that they are more ex-army or ex-marines that Simmonds worked with, probably in Iraq, like the team who shot up the hospital" I nodded.

"Makes sense, plus it supports the idea that the Columbians were expendable. He used his own people, people he trusts, for one job, for the other he pays people who don't baulk at killing cops, then sends them into a shootout" I said as Kate sat back and smiled, a little cruelly.

"The odds weren't great, hope they got paid in advance" I shrugged.

"Even if he did the survivor's never going to spend it" I turned us back to the subject. "He has to be keeping them somewhere, but where?"

"A house out in suburbia maybe?" Kate asked, but Jane demurred.

"Could be, but that maybe means nosey neighbours seeing something, more likely is a business somewhere, a place where people can come and go and not be noticed" There were nods at that as we thought it through.

"So how do we go about finding this fixer?" Ana asked; drawing a grim smile from Kate as she replied with a question.

"What does a fixer want, what's their motivation?" Ana shrugged then spoke up, a little tentatively.

"I dunno, recognition, so they get more jobs?" Jane shook her head.

"Yeah, but more than that they want money" It wasn't a question, drawing a nod from Kate.

"Dead right, so we need to let it be known there's money, a lot of it, for the fixer who boosted that FedEx van" she looked around. "That ought to do it"

"How much are we talking about, I mean how much would supplying a van be worth?" I asked, getting a guess from Kate.

"You have to figure a few thousand" Jane nodded.

"Then we offer twenty plus for the person who did it" She looked grim. "That ought to be enough bait" I thought about it for a few seconds then looked to her.

"How do we get the word out on the street?" Jane waved that off.

"We talk to a few cops and let the message out via their CIs, it shouldn't take long" she said.

"We've been cut off, who will talk to us?" Kate asked.

"We actually have a whole string of cops right across the LAPD who'd help us out, if we were to ask" Jane stated.

"Who?" It was Ana.

"We have the numbers for a whole string of officers, people we've talked to since the trial" She smiled grimly. "They'll help if we ask" Ana smiled, a real one for a moment.

"I hadn't thought of them, yeah, great idea Jane, especially given its Alex, Maura and Nat" Kate looked around between us.

"What am I missing?" She looked puzzled. "Why will they help us?" Jane was the one to answer.

"Kate, they're all gay women, all cops, they came to us to talk, after all the publicity at the trial they saw someone else they could talk to, people in the LAPD who were already publically out" she said. "Some of them are out, some aren't, but they wanted advice and support. Most of them approached Nat first and she put them in contact with the rest of us, including Alex giving some of them legal advice about harassment they were receiving" Jane shrugged. "A few of them we helped get moved round the department to get away from bad situations at work" Kate nodded slowly.

"I understand" I leaned forward and looked at Jane.

"Sounds good, if you can dig up that list, we can get started"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Executive Floor**

Brenda's viewpoint

Two hours later and I was in an even less pleasant meeting, sitting across from Will Pope, fighting to keep my growing distaste for the man under control.

"With Dearing missing, we need someone else to step up as media spokesperson on this case" I worked hard to stay impassive, I had no doubt where Will was leading with this, knowing how much I hated it I wouldn't be surprised if he was doing it as some sort of payback; to test if I was right I threw out a suggestion.

"Given you have not spoken to the media yet, perhaps you might do so, showing that our concern starts at the top" Even as I saw the frown appear I knew Pope was already distancing himself from this, he didn't want to be associated with any bad news, not when he was in the running for the job again later this year, the miserable, worthless son of a bitch. He shook his head and spoke.

"I disagree, as the senior officer running this case I believe you should take the lead with dealing with the media coverage of the case" He smiled blandly. "If there are any major breakthroughs, we can revisit that but for now I am delegating this to you"

I desperately worked to stay impassive, I knew exactly what he meant, if we solved the case he'd step up and take all the credit and bask in the success, if we didn't he'd be as far away from it as possible, no doubt throwing me under the bus as he ran for cover, he'd turned into another useless politician, not concerned about anything besides preserving his own skin. Stomping down on my distaste I shook my head and worked to keep my temper under control, I needed to head off his little game right now.

"I don't have time for that Will; I have our people to find, plus we still have an ongoing investigation into a massive sex trafficking ring still underway, all of which is tied together" I paused and frowned. "I simply do not have time to waste running media conferences and handling their questions and enquiries" Shaking my head I pressed on. "I can try and solve this case or spend my time placating the press, but not both; you need to find someone else"

I could tell he wasn't happy, I'd practically given him an ultimatum and after what had transpired in the Murder Room I could tell I was on his 'shit-list'; lucky me. Not that I cared, I had more important worries right now so instead I shrugged.

"We have a collection of capable senior officers, all of who have done SOMAC training, one of them should be more than qualified to do the job" I said, referring to the Senior Officer's Media Awareness Course that Natalie ran regularly, prepping us for dealing with the media. Pope frowned.

"None of them have the rapport with the media or the experience that Dearing had" He speared me with a glance, conceding my point and looking for an out. "Who would you recommend for the job?" I pursed my lips for a moment, thinking it through. Several of the other Chiefs could do it, Kelso and Ramirez and Fletcher were all capable, I was about to suggest Colin Kelso when I had a thought.

"How about Commander Raydor" I shrugged. "She's done SOMAC, plus she can stay calm and focussed under pressure, she would be good in the role" I got a dubious look.

"The fact she's your…well, you're involved…that has nothing to do with it?" I shook my head at the rank stupidity of that notion.

"Of course not, she'll hate it…" God knows she'd be furious. "…but she's calm, composed and presents well on camera, all of which means that she will be good at the role, lord knows we need someone capable speaking up for us" At that not so subtle dig at him Pope sat back and stared at me for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"Very well, let Raydor know that she's to handle the media until further notice" I nodded, even as I wondered if Sharon would forgive me for having her thrown into the deep end.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Alex's viewpoint

Our captors weren't much help with Rick; they'd tossed in a bottle of water and a box of Advil, so much for pain relief. He'd taken the pills and finally slipped into a fitful, restless sleep as I cradled his head on my shoulder, the cuff on his other arm making it too difficult to lay him down, as the rest of us sat there, none of us saying much.

The bandage he'd had his hand wrapped in had slowly turned red with blood, driving Maura to tear a strip off her skirt to create a make-shift bandage. We'd watched as she had, with Natalie's help, and using some of the water, dressed the ugly wound as I worried about infections, even gangrene, from the wound. With that done there was little to do but talk quietly as poor Rick slept restlessly.

"I'm certain Ana and the others are moving heaven and earth to find us" Nat commented quietly.

"Most assuredly" Maura nodded. "They had made significant progress on the case; I believe that is what drove our captor to his actions, despite his best efforts the investigators were closing in on him, he had after all only just avoided capture twice" I nodded gently, keeping my voice down as I didn't want to wake Rick.

"I wonder if Simmonds realises that he was the one that led us to the Cabal in the first place"

"Very likely not, he seems to be a supremely confident, even overconfident individual, he probably would not make that connection" Maura said.

"Be nice to prick that arrogant bastard's bubble" Nat commented, drawing grim smiles at that. "On the other hand why give him any help?"

"Exactly" I said and then pushed out a smile; it felt a little hollow but still... "I for one am looking forward to testifying at Simmonds' trial, getting to watch as Andrea sends him away forever"

"Not you?" Nat asked. I shook my head as I replied.

"No, conflict of interest, but I trust Andrea; she'd make sure he went away for good" Nat nodded slowly as she shifted position, it was all too easy to cramp up sitting on the cold, hard concrete then spoke softly.

"Yeah, I want to see that too"

 **Los Angeles Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office**

Andrea's viewpoint

I didn't want the job, for the first time in my life I was truly happy, I have not one but two beautiful women who love me the same way I love them, my life's good, amazing even, in a way it's never been before, for once I'm just happy and content and settled.

Now all that had come crashing down, first Alex had been taken, even now I shied away from Alex's office, the knowledge my friend was gone too painful to take, then had come the urgent meeting with our boss.

Graham Annesley, the District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles, was, outside of the polished performance he turned on for voters and the media, a blunt, plain-spoken man; in this case he'd been almost brutally straight to the point; with Alex missing the case was mine to prosecute.

"I want to send a message to the people who took Cabot, they will not intimidate this office and they will not win. From now on this is your only case, give a list of the rest of your cases to Marcia and I'll review them and allocate them accordingly, we can do handover tomorrow, sending this son of a bitch to death row is your only concern, got it" It hadn't been a question.

Numbly I'd nodded and left, still trying to get a handle on how quickly the world had shifted under my feet. Arriving back at my office I'd slumped back in her seat, turning to stare out at the LA skyline but not seeing any of it, instead seeing a future of formless fears and terrors and the deep but growing realization that I'd just been handed a target to hang around my neck.

I was suddenly startled from my black despair by a light touch on my shoulder, almost jumping in surprise before I saw the warm dark hand on my shoulder and recognizing Amy's Army class ring as I looked up, seeing both Amy and Mikki standing there, concern on their faces.

"Hi Mi Amor" It was Mikki. "We knocked but you didn't hear us…" I nodded; I'd been so lost that I wouldn't have heard anything.

"I'm sorry, I was…" Amy nodded.

"Yeah, we heard" I nodded, their presence centering me and helping to dispel the worst of my darkness for the moment, allowing me to concentrate on other things.

"Don't get me wrong, it's good to see you both, but what are you doing here?" Mikki and Amy exchanged a glance before Mikki spoke.

"Brenda sent us, you're now on the Lost Girl's case" She shrugged as Amy nodded. "Well that's what we've been calling it, anyway she sent us to look after you" Amy jumped in after her.

"Protecting you is now our job, 24/7 until the case is closed" I looked up at them and frowned.

"You're going to be here with me?" Amy nodded.

"Every step of the way" Overwhelmed I felt tears appear in my eyes as I tuned and stood, falling into Mikki's arms for a moment, before feeling something bulky and unyielding between us, then stepping back, frowning. I could feel something rigid under Mikki's button down and jacket, turning I could see the faint outline of something similar under Amy's polo. I reached out for Mikki's shirt and pulled it up, revealing rigid Kevlar body armor.

"What is this? Don't you think this is a bit much?" Amy shook her head as Mikki replied.

"No, the guy you're now prosecuting is a ruthless son of a bitch and so are his associates. Our job is to protect you, so you can do your job"

"But this…" Amy stepped in.

"Our job is to stand between you and any threats, if we have to take a bullet so you don't, well that's what the Kevlar's for" She thumped her chest with her fist, making a dulled sound.

"That's crazy" Amy shook her head, her voice brutal as she got the message across.

"Tell that to Jane, Ana, Liv and Kate" I felt my face flame red as I dropped my gaze, speaking softly.

"Oh god" There was silence for about 15 seconds before I looked up to see Mikki and Amy exchange a worried glance before I spoke again, my voice a whisper. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" Mikki was the one to reply.

"We don't want you to be sorry Mi Amor, just safe" Amy nodded and spoke up.

"Sorry if I was kinda harsh Andie, but you have to understand, you could be in danger and we're gonna stand between you and that danger, no matter what, okay?" Finally I looked up, my eyes meeting first Mikki's, then Amy's, seeing the fear and concern there, something I wouldn't, couldn't argue with.

"Okay"


	71. Chapter 71

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **71 Stepping up**

 **Los Angeles LADP The Parker Centre forecourt**

Sharon's viewpoint

I hated this, I firmly believed the media were vultures pure and simple, always circling, searching out bad news and death, preying on the misery of others and regurgitating it as 'entertainment' for the masses to digest over their evening meals, watching as private pain was turned into public spectacle. When I'd been told that I was going to be the Department's interim spokesperson and that my first job in the role was to announce our friends were missing, I'd been livid, spending a few moments cursing Pope for all eternity, then immediately rung Jane and Olivia and the others and told them what was happening.

Once we'd go live the news would just feed the media beast, plus by ringing them they could let their friends and family know, or at least be prepared for the calls that would follow. They hadn't liked it, but they'd thanked me for letting them know, the call had been stilted, not like them at all, but hardly surprising given the circumstances.

Now though I stood at the LAPD lectern, I knew Natalie didn't use it but I lacked her confidence and experience with the media, instead needing the psychological distance and protection it offered, especially facing the array of lenses focused on me and the forest of microphones in front of me taking in every word. Gripping the lectern just that little harder I looked down at the key messages points I'd printed out in 24 point font on a sheet of paper, summoning up as much poise and calm as I could, then took a breath, letting it flow out before looking up at the crowd.

"Good morning, I am Commander Sharon Raydor, I will be providing this morning's media briefing" I glanced around then came back to focus on the cluster of camera's right in front of me. "The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a series of crimes committed across the city, all related to the recent bombing at the Sheraton and the subsequent attack on Mercy General Hospital" I took a breath and pushed on. "The recent brazen attack on police investigating a motel in Alhambra is also related to this case, and in particular to a person of interest currently under arrest, one Danny Wynter, a Los Angeles resident" The pack started baying questions but I held up my hand and leaned forward to ensure I was clearly heard by the microphones.

"I will be taking questions at the conclusion of this statement, so please hold onto them till then" The calls died down until I was ready to continue. "Unfortunately there has been a new, and distressing development in this case, with several members of the team involved with this case having been kidnapped by associates of Mister Wynter" The cries started up again but I ignored them, concentrating on keeping my breathing even and slow, waiting for them to realise I wasn't going to answer. Finally they did and the questions trailed off, leaving one of the reporters, an attractive Asian woman, to speak.

"Please continue Commander" I nodded once, gratefully, and pushed on.

"Thank you. Three Los Angeles law enforcement members together with a consultant from the NYPD, were kidnapped from a private residence here in LA just over a day ago" There was an uproar, everyone yelling questions but I focused on what I was going to say and held up my hand, waiting for calm as I checked my speaking points, then looked up. "The four victims of this crime were Alexandra Cabot; Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County Attorney's Office, Doctor Maura Isles; the Chief Medical Examiner for the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office, Richard Castle; a consultant with the New York Police Department and the LAPD Media Manager, Natalie Dearing"

That last got a reaction; I could see the reporters shooting glances at one another as they suddenly understood why Natalie wasn't here.

"The individuals who kidnapped our people have been in contact to inform us of their demands, however you are all aware of the policy, at all levels of government, regarding entering into negotiations with kidnappers and terrorists" Objectively I could understand and even support the principle, but it wasn't so cut and dried when it was some of your closest friends at stake. Part of me wanted to give them what they wanted, just to get our friends back, we could always track Wynter down later, but I knew that was just my fear and worry talking. "I can assure you that the LAPD will leave no stone unturned to locate and retrieve our missing colleagues" I looked around the assembled media pack and tried to keep my voice level as I opened the floodgates. "I will now take questions"

There was an immediate uproar but I pointed to the woman who'd spoken to me before and spoke up.

"Your question please?" The rest of the pack quietened as the woman spoke.

"Candace Sin from Studio 11 LA News, the kidnapped consultant, is that the same Rick Castle, the best-selling author?" I nodded; it was too much to expect that no one would pick up on that.

"Yes, I can confirm that Mister Castle, the author, was one of the people kidnapped" Before I could choose someone else the reporter jumped back in.

"What was he doing in LA?" I decided someone else would just ask so I might as well get it out there.

"Mister Castle was kindly assisting the LAPD with the investigation into the bombing of the Sheraton Hotel and a number of related cases" That set them off as I looked to the next interrogator, pointing at another woman a little to Sin's left.

"You have a question?"

"Tori Wells, Los Angeles Daily News; what are the kidnapper's demands?"

"They seek the release of their associate, Danny Wynter, which will not be happening" I looked around. "Next question" I indicated a guy with a CNN microphone and called him out. "Your question please?"

"CNN, John Wasserman, what was Richard Castle, an author, a civilian, doing on a LAPD investigation, something that apparently placed his life at risk?" I suppressed a frown at the thrust of his question, instead concentrating on remaining calm as I answered.

"Mister Castle, in addition to being a best-selling author, is well known for his consultancy work with the NYPD. We were fortunate to have Mister Castle available to consult on this case as his expertise was very helpful. I might add that no one expected an attempt to influence the case by kidnapping members of the team investigating it"

There was a clamour at that as I suppressed a sigh; it was going to a very long morning.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Calleigh Duquesne's viewpoint

We were gathered around in a circle, going over what we had once more over coffees; Stella Bonasera had the floor as I sipped my coffee.

"Based on what we know, we have a major organisation with operations that span the country, at least based on what Mac and the others told us" I nodded, it made sense. Calleigh pointed to a stylised drawing of the US, with Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami and New York all marked in big crosses and continued. "These places all seem to have some significance to the organisation or at least to their interaction with police" We nodded as she indicated Seattle which was marked with a smaller cross. "Romanov had her own run in with them there so it gets a mention" Flynn nodded grimly.

"Yeah, unfortunately the trail went cold there" I nodded and spoke up.

"It seems to do that a lot, anytime the local authorities start getting close everyone dies" Mac Taylor looked my way.

"Could be that's Simmonds, everything we've found about him suggests he was Wynter's hatchet man, he sure has the rep and track record from back in Iraq" he said. I nodded as Flynn spoke up.

"He seemed to have acted as muscle for whatever organisation was paying him over there. The local cops together with our MP's apparently tied him to a lot of murders after his arrest, circumstantially for the most part…" He grimaced. "He didn't leave a lot of witnesses behind" Stella nodded and continued.

"Something his actions here in Los Angeles attest to" There was general acknowledgement of that; we suspected his hand in or behind over a score of deaths here in LA just on this case, plus the bombings. One snippet we'd gleaned from his Marine Corp record was that he had specialist explosives training, making the bombings sure look like his handiwork as well. "So Simmonds' been running around tidying up loose ends, I get that, but he didn't expect that we'd tie him into this mess so quickly" I nodded at Stella's words, that had been a lucky break. "We almost caught him in the raid on Wynter's place, he obviously wasn't expecting that, so he's not perfect" At her words I pulled a face and spoke.

"Maybe but he's ahead of us so far" Provenza nodded, granting me the point.

"Yeah, but now he's been disrupted, which must be throwing him off his game" he noted, drawing nods before Booth spoke up from where he was leaning back against Jane's desk, he'd been listening quietly.

"Maybe, but he's regrouped quickly. I mean the abortive attempt to rescue Wynter at the hospital, the attack on Brenda and the …kidnapping" He paused for a moment then pressed on, professionalism overcoming worry. "That's not bad for someone supposedly on the back foot" I thought about that for the moment as did the others, finally it was Stella who broke the quiet.

"None of that would be cheap though" She ran her hand though her wild mop of curly hair as she continued. "He had to have paid for the attack on Mercy General, the attack on Brenda and maybe what happened with the others. None of that was cheap, especially given the short notice" I thought that over then stood and walked over to the only whiteboard not completely covered in paper and handwritten notes, picking up a marker and started making notes as I spoke.

"Okay, let's go back to what we do know. Wynter was in Iraq, both with the Army and as a contractor. We assume that while there he hooked up with Simmonds who had been in the Marines before going back to Iraq as well, we don't know exactly what Wynter was doing that led him and Simmonds meeting again when they were both contractors but whatever it was he seems to have ended up using Simmonds as muscle" I wrote Wynter's name in the middle with a line running to one side to Simmonds.

"Figure that Simmonds wasn't part of running whatever Wynter did, he seems to have been their enforcer, taking out whoever got in their way" said Flynn as Booth levered himself up and retrieved a sheaf of papers attached to another whiteboard with a magnet, flipping through them as he quickly scanned it then looked up.

"Like we said, much of it was circumstantial, at least till they tied him to the death of an Iraqi colonel and his wife in Basra" He looked round at us as she explained. "The guy was running drugs into the country from Afghanistan to sell to westerners in the UN, relief organisations and the like" He looked down and summarised the data for us. "He was under surveillance by an Iraqi police team when they spotted someone breaking into the colonel's place, they went in and found Simmonds had killed both of them, knifed them both actually, the same style of knife used in the killing here, they tried to arrest him but he fought his way out, leaving two dead cops behind" Shaking his head he continued. "During the fight Simmonds got injured; he was clipped in the side by a pistol round as he tried to flee and ran into a British Army patrol who got suspicious when they saw the blood, while they were questioning him the Iraqi Police chasing him caught up and identified him, leading to his arrest" Booth dropped the sheaf of papers on the desk next to him as he sat back down then looked around.

"There was an insurgent attack on the prison he was in awaiting trial, he got away in the ensuing confusion and was never seen again" He looked up. "The Iraqi's convicted him in absentia for multiple murders, not just those two, but a number of other committed with the same MO, the same knife wounds; they were going to hang him but…" Booth let that trail off as Provenza nodded.

"Figure Wynter got to Simmonds and then helped him skip the country" I frowned and looked to Mac Taylor; he'd been there after all.

"How hard would that have been?" At my question Mac shook his head and answered.

"Not very, the borders with places like Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria in particular were very porous back then so he probably got out through there, or possibly on into Turkey and out" He shrugged. "Can't imagine he got out through either Kuwait or Iran, those borders were a lot tighter"

"So he got out, then what?" asked Booth, Flynn took that up.

"Assume that with the US presence in Iraq winding down, Wynter and his people moved out, shut down whatever operation they were running in Iraq and got out" I had a sudden thought.

"Maybe there's something there" They turned to look at me as I explained my thoughts. "Simmonds was Wynter's enforcer right?" Stella tipped her head as she spoke.

"Well, that's our best guess so far" I nodded.

"Ask yourself, why kill that Colonel and his wife unless they were either a competitor or a potential competitor?" There were thoughtful looks at that. "All we've seen suggests Simmonds is a thinker, he doesn't react emotionally, so if he went after them then there's a reason, probably something that ties in with whoever was paying him…"

"Who we're assuming is Wynter" Horatio interjected, I turned to see him standing there with a coffee cup in his hand. He gave me a tiny smile and a nod as I kept going.

"So that almost certainly ties in with what he was doing over there, Wynter I mean" Andy nodded.

"That suggests Wynter was trafficking in drugs and maybe other stuff in Iraq as well" I nodded, starting to feel this was leading somewhere.

"So they leave Iraq and come back stateside and what, pick up where they left off?" Horatio shook his head.

"Trying to muscle into the drug trade; that'd put them into conflict with a lot of established players, the Mafia, the Irish mob, the Columbians, the Cartels and the Russians back on the east coast" he stated.

"And the Yakuza, the Triads, the Cartels, the Columbian's and the rest out here" Provenza finished then looked to me. "So he looks into other areas" Booth nodded slowly and spoke up.

"People trafficking, kidnapping and selling people right across the country" I nodded and tapped the white board.

"A country-wide operation, that means money, contacts, customers, experienced people…" I took a few steps away to another whiteboard and tapped my marker against a list of names, the four men that had been with Wynter in Iraq in the Army and again in his contracting company. "Plus we have his associates here, conveniently located in New York, Miami, Chicago and Houston, that would make the basis for a nice nationwide network right there"

"Yeah, but we haven't really managed to tie them together beyond the fact that all of them live expensive lifestyles on money we can't really account for" said Hoyt. "I mean we think it's connected but we've got nothing really solid enough to take to a judge for a search warrant" Horatio nodded.

"Yeah, I had our people look into the guy in Miami, Kurt Walgren" Horatio shook his head. "He lives on an eighty-foot motor cruiser tied up in a marina in South Beach, plus he drives a practically new Lexus SUV"

"Not bad for a former infantry sergeant" Mac commented, then shrugged. "It seems there's a lot of that going around" At our confused looks he clarified what he meant. "I had our guys back home do some digging into John Waters; he owns outright a brownstone on the Upper East Side and drives a new seven series BMW"

"Exactly" Andy stated. "We know they're in it up to their necks but like you said…" He glanced at Woody Hoyt. "…we don't have enough to take to a judge"

"So we have a network of people across the country, all of whom we believe are a part of the Cabal, and they know people they worked with in Iraq, so that gives them the basis for the organisation" Stella noted.

"They'd need time though, you can't set that up overnight" Hoyt interrupted. "Lots of time" I glanced over to Horatio and nodded his way.

"Well Mac, Ray and Horatio have been looking into this case for years, and Wynter and his people had obviously got things settled down long enough to have everything bedded down and running like clockwork well before that" I said as Mac nodded once.

"That would explain why all three of the truckers they've tied to the logistics side of the organisation were all ex-military, probably people they used in Iraq, or at least they knew of" He said as I walked back to my original whiteboard and wrote ' _Minimum seven years, maybe more_ ' there as Andy got up and walked over to another whiteboard, lifting a magnet and retrieving some papers which he leafed through as we watched. Finding what he was looking for he looked up and explained.

"Wynter pulled his company out of Iraq back in 2011, but some of the reports suggest he had been winding down for a while before that, maybe two or three years before, so assume he and his friends realised there was a market they could serve back stateside and started setting this up before they pulled out of Iraq, using the money they were making there to bankroll their operations here" I pulled a face at the implications as he continued. "That means they've had at least a decade to get established and running, maybe more"

"Jesus" It was Provenza. "If we're right and our initial investigation didn't go far enough back" He pulled a face then nodded my way. "Sorry…then they could have been doing this for over a decade, so we could be looking at way more than fifteen hundred victims" I frowned, both at the implications and the fact I'd been part of that investigation, on the other hand I couldn't conclusively say he was wrong.

There was quiet at that for a few moments as we took that thought in, women and men from across the country kidnapped and sold to customers for god knows what purpose. I didn't, I couldn't, hazard a guess how many of them might still be alive today. Finally Stella spoke, the dismay all too evident in her voice.

"Oh my god"

 **Washington DC FBI Headquarters Cyber Crimes Division**

Elijah Mundo's viewpoint

"Everyone, listen up" I turned at Assistant Director Avery Brooks voice to see her striding down onto the floor of the tank, our big work area in the Cyber Threat Operations Centre, all filled with screens and computers. She strode into the middle of the floor and looked around.

"You will recall we have been providing assistance to an investigation out in Los Angeles into a potential nationwide sex slavery ring" I nodded, seeing others do the same. "The people behind that operation have not taken that investigation lying down, they have struck back with attacks on the officers investigating them" She shrugged. "They did not succeed, however they have turned their attention to the families of those officers, with four people kidnapped, wives and partners of two LAPD officers, a NYPD officer and a Bureau Agent" I felt a shiver run through me at that; something like that was way too close to home, seeing others react as well.

"What happened?" It was Krummitz.

"Apparently they were kidnapped from their homes" She looked around. "This case now his top priority, I've just come from a meeting with the Director and the other assistant directors and it was the only topic being discussed, our own come first" She shook her head. "From the Director on down it was unanimous, we will provide all possible assistance to help the LAPD get our people back" I nodded, targeting our families…

"This is not just another case anymore people, this is personal" Avery said, taking in each of us as she continued. "The Bureau is sending a message to every low-life scum out there that our families are off limits" She looked around, the quiet rage in her eyes as easily seen as it was heard in her voice. "If they get away with it this time, others will do the same, something that I refuse to sit back and allow on my watch, and those are the Director's words as well" She looked around as she asked a question. "Who looked into the finances these people were using?" Raven Ramirez raised her hand.

"Me" Avery turned to her, her voice sharp.

"What did you find?" Raven shook her head as she explained.

"Not much, we traced the accounts being used to a bank in the Maldives, via accounts in the Channel Islands and the Caymans" She shrugged. "The bank wasn't cooperating, so we hit a wall" Avery nodded once then looked at Daniel Krumitz, beckoning him forward.

"Both of you, I want you to go back into that bank's accounts and dig, don't stop until you find everything" They exchanged a look before Raven spoke up, a little quietly.

"What are the limits Avery?" I understood what she was asking, we were supposed to be the good guys, not criminal hackers, but the look she got from Avery was arctic.

"For sex trafficking scum who sell people to underground brothels and snuff film makers and kidnap our families…none whatsoever" She looked from Raven to Krumitz and then around the rest of us. "Is that understood?" She got nods from everyone, me included.

"I want to hear from you what you are working on right now, we'll determine how important it is and what can be put aside, this case against the cabal is our top, in fact our only priority, be prepared to drop anything else and assist where needed" She shook her head. "There are four people out there, including the wife of a Bureau agent, who we need to find, so look into every connection we have to this cabal and start digging, they can't operate without using the net and I want to know about it" She looked around the team, making eye contact with everyone.

"Besides the financial side, we'll start with the operations we found in the deep web, those snuff films, tear the site apart and find anything there" I grimaced but spoke up.

"There's an embargo on that site, apparently there's an entrapment honey pot operation underway, we're tracking the visits of everyone visiting the site and trying to track them back to an IP" Avery cut me off.

"Not anymore, this has absolute priority" She looked me straight in the eye. "If anyone gives you blowback, put them onto me and I'll set them straight, if they don't like it, well they can take it up with the Director, if they dare" She looked around the team. "Anyone not clear on what is required?" Silence greeted her so she nodded.

"Good, this unit is now officially on a war footing, the people in that 'cabal' have declared war on the law enforcement agencies investigating them, well we shall show them the face of war. Are there any questions?"

There weren't, not after that speech.

 **Washington DC The Pentagon Office of Naval Investigations**

Leroy Gibbs viewpoint

I tried to stay away from the Pentagon as much as possible, too many ass-kissers, chairborne warriors, politicians in uniform and bureaucrats for my liking; I'd never been comfortable there. Unfortunately, when a direct summons from an Admiral's office arrived, I wasn't left with much choice.

I made my through the maze to the right room and was greeted by a civilian secretary who led me back out of the office and along several corridors, eventually fetching up at a secure section where she handed me over to an MP. I was politely told to hand over my phone before being escorted inside what I recognised as a 'Tempest' shielded room, no electronic eavesdropping was possible inside, about as secure as a room could be, inside the Pentagon, a pretty secure place anyway.

I was shown inside to find Sarah Mackenzie, still wearing her Colonel's eagles, waiting for me. She stood and shook my hand then indicated next to hers seat; it was just the two of us.

"Agent Gibbs, I've asked you in because Ana Romanov asked you to look into a series of weapon thefts, weapons that have ended up on the streets in criminal's hands" I nodded and waited for her to continue. "It appears that we've only scratched the surface" I leaned forward.

"Yeah, we've ascertained that we're looking at more than one shipment of weapons, Romanov let me know another set of M4s and body armour turned up in an attack on the cops investigating out there" I shook my head. "The body armour was the same desert camo scheme we've previously seen, but the M4s in the latest attack were jungle-cammed, not desert-cammed like the last batch" Mackenzie nodded.

"Ana's been keeping me in the loop, that's how I was able to get you permission to wander round on the Army's turf" She leaned forward. "What did you learn there?" I thought back for a second, then summarised what the team had found.

"It looks, from the outside, like everything's on the up and up, the paperwork's in order, nothing to question. It's only when you look into it you start finding out no one actually knew who signed off on the transfers, it was all authorised via email and the shipping addresses were all fake, basically the stuff left the base and disappeared" She nodded and clasped her hands on the desk in front of her as she explained.

"I have an asset, a computer virtuoso, one Sergeant Entwhistle, I found him while cleaning up after an incident Ana alerted me to in Alabama" I raised an eyebrow at that, I remembered Alabama.

"Would that be something involving a Marine Major named Darren Troy?" I didn't miss the nasty smile that appeared at my question.

"You'd be referring to former Marine Major Darren Troy" She sat back. "I'm afraid that after an adverse finding from my investigation of his handling of that particular matter, his career ceased to prosper and he was 'persuaded'…" she put it in quote marks. "…to seek a new career in civilian life" I smiled, pleased as hell, idiots like Troy were a disgrace to the branch.

"Thank you Colonel, I appreciate it" She smiled warmly at me.

"Don't mention it Gunny, once I was encouraged to look into it by a phone call from Ana, well the report practically wrote itself" I nodded, seeing where she was coming from. "Anyway, Sergeant Entwhistle was wasting his talents down in Alabama, talents I could use here, so I pulled some strings to have him shifted up here where he now carries out the I.T. side of investigations, very successfully actually" I nodded, people like that were always valuable, the military ran on computers, nothing happened anymore without them being involved.

"I have tasked him to dig into the handling of the weapons that Ana recovered in Los Angeles, following up on your investigations at Picatinny and elsewhere" she said as I pulled a face.

"I'm guessing that as we're meeting here it wasn't good" I stated, not expecting the response I got.

"Worse" She shook her head. "The electronic trail leads back to the Pentagon and a web of false identities providing authorisation from a number of sources, all bogus" I leaned forward, it might sound bad but it also looked like we had some thing to go on.

"Such as?"

"The authorisation for the transfer out of the country came from a section that handles international arms transfers to allied countries, except the person who authorised it doesn't exist" I nodded as I replied.

"Naturally" I got a smirk before she continued.

"The same goes for the cost codes that paid for the weapons in the first place, the authorising officer who approved it, the name on the receipt for the weapons when they were handed over for shipment out of the base, all bogus" I sat back and though that through.

"That's a lot of time and effort right there to cover their tracks" She nodded.

"And it runs right through the services, the approving officer for the M4 purchase was supposedly Air Force, working in the F35 office, the section that handles the arms transfers is mostly Army and Marines, while the RDX shipment was authorised via the Army as well, plus I don't doubt we'll find Navy fingerprints on this as well" I grimaced, that involved at least a few separate people, right across the Pentagon and the various services, a goddamned mess.

"Sounds like we need to clean house" Mackenzie nodded.

"I'm of the same mind as you Gunny, plus we need to get on top of this before the media or the people up on the Hill get wind of it" I nodded, we didn't need the Senate or House Armed Forces Committee's looking into this, not until we'd got our house in order.

"What's the plan Ma'am?" I got a wicked smile.

"Glad you asked"

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Jane's viewpoint

The calls from family had been pretty full on, my ma had been one of the first, but not the last, not by a long shot, each of the others had got the same result, well except for Ana, Nat's parent's had gone overseas three days ago on a two week safari to Africa, they probably wouldn't have heard and Ana wasn't looking to chase them down with the news, not till we had something good to report.

Rick's mom was on a meditation retreat in upstate New York, no phones allowed apparently, so that was a conversation Kate had to look forward to on another day but we'd all been fielding calls from friends, partners and colleagues. In addition to Ma, I'd already had calls from Frankie, Korsak and Frost, and Suzie and Riley, all concerned, all asking if there was anything they could do. There wasn't of course, but the fact they were willing to drop everything and come if we needed them meant the world to me, even as we worked to get Maura and the others back.

To that end we'd taken a leaf out of Simmonds' book, we'd hit up the same place he had here in Los Angeles for a number of disposable phones. I'd worn a ball cap and large sunnies and kept my head down as I paid cash for half a dozen cheap phones, god knows we wanted this way off the books, somewhere the LAPD couldn't find, given they had some pretty strong thoughts on vigilantes. With new phones we'd circulated the numbers along with the reward for information through our network of gay officers; the news of the kidnapping had spread throughout the force so all of them were concerned and more than willing to do whatever needed to help.

It hadn't taken long before the calls started coming in, I mean twenty thousand is a nice piece of change for basically just information, plus the amount on offer immediately told everyone that this wasn't the LAPD, not with that amount on the table.

Of course that meant there was no end of scam artists and liars trying for the prize, but a few questions about details only the people who'd stolen the van would know weeded out the tyre kickers. Still, it all took time, time I was conscious of; we now had less than 55 hours of Simmonds' deadline to find a lead and act on it. That meant we were running pretty hard so to that end I was making a coffee run to the kitchen, instant this time as it was my turn and I didn't know how to run their high-end espresso machine, not that the others complained, caffeine was caffeine and we all needed the stimulant. I was walking in with two cups in each hand as I heard Liv talking to someone who'd called in.

"Okay, let me ask you a few questions, just to make sure the info you claim is on the up and up" I put a coffee in front of her, getting a grateful nod and moving on to the others to pass their coffee's over as she spoke. "What was so special about the van that was stolen?" She listened for a few seconds then sat up straight, lifting one hand and snapping her fingers loudly to get our attention even as she spoke. "Where was it stolen from?" I saw her getting excited as she listened, her face lighting up as we all watched closely. "You sound like you're on the level, so tell me, what else had to be done to the van?" I knew she was asking about disabling the FedEx van's satellite tracking gear, most of the big parcel companies now fitted the tracking gear to their vans, something the average member of the public wasn't aware of but which had been done to the stolen van. There was a few seconds of silence before Liv looked round and nodded. "Okay, how soon can we meet, you give me the info and I give you the cash…yeah, that's doable…I know where that is, I'll be there, look for a woman in jeans, a red polo and a leather jacket…okay, black pants and a blue and white hoodie…got it…see you there" The call ended as Kate broke in.

"What have you got?" Liv looked her way.

"He knew it was a FedEx van, knew where it was taken from and knew about the tracking transponder, it sure sounds like the right guy. I have to meet him downtown in a coffee ship in a little over an hour" I stood, seeing the others doing the same.

"Let's go"

 **Los Angeles Pacoima The Jay Motel**

With a few spare moments, he was busy closing off loose ends, something Ryerson represented. In this case he was talking to the leader of the PJ Crips, useful in this case for two reasons.

He knew the Crips guy, Cortez had served in the sandpit with him and he'd impressed Simmonds with his completely amoral attitude and unrepentant greed. That was one reason; the other was that the PJ Crips had a number of their people inside the prison system, some of whom weren't ever coming out.

They remained loyal to the Crips though, some out of a sense of family, others because the Crips looked out for their family, but it meant they had assets inside the system.

"So you take Ryerson out of play and it's worth 20K"

"Make it 25K and you've got a deal, the other 5K will go to the family of the guy doing it"

"Done, when and where do you want the money?" And as easy as that Ryerson's fate was sealed.


	72. Chapter 72

**A/N** Hi all, sorry that these have slowed down a bit in the posting schedule, as you can see there's a fair few balls being juggled and the individual chapters have got a bit larger as I try and keep the story moving and interesting. Thanks for bearing with me.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **72 Lines are Drawn**

 **Los Angeles Little Tokyo Cherry Blossom Cafe**

Olivia's viewpoint

"So he's the guy you want" I nodded sceptically, scepticism was warranted whenever talking to an informant, especially one who was ratting out other people for money.

"So you say" I said noncommittally; the guy across the table, a low-life Korean street punk named Park, had phoned the number we'd circulated, offering a payment to anyone who could point us in the direction of the stolen FedEx van used in the kidnapping. We'd had too many false leads, some of them laughably so, but Park was different, sure of his info and able to walk me through how it went down.

"Look, I ain't lying, this guy Saunders, he's a fixer, he can get people stuff, all it takes is cash" I looked at him and spoke.

"And you know this because…"

"I work with him from time to time, those times he needs a few extra people, or he's busy and wants something done so I know what he does"

"And the FedEx van?" He nodded.

"He knows I can get anything with wheels, it's what I do okay? So he asked me to find a van, nondescript, DHL, UPS, one of the delivery companies, he likes them cause no one looks at those vans twice, they blend into the landscape right?" I nodded noncommittally. "Anyway Saunders, Charlie Saunders his name is, he rings and asks me to find him one that can be delivered to a customer of his"

"When?

"Three days ago" I nodded.

"And…" I prompted him.

"I found one, knock out the tracking gear, grab it and give him a call, he tells me to stash it and pass the keys to him at a street corner down in Watts"

"Why there?" He looked at me a bit funny.

"Cause that's where he's based, he's black, blends in amongst the local community, lived there for years, no one will give him up to the pigs' cause he's a brother or some shit" He shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't ask me, fucked if I know why" I nodded, hiding my reaction to that piece of bad news.

"Okay Charlie Saunders, right"

"Yeah, anyway I met him there, got paid $750 for boosting the van from the parking lot and delivering it. I swapped out the key lock barrel for another one, compete with a matching set of keys, hand the keys and the van location over and he tells me to bug out before he heads over the other side of the street to a café and walks in, he swaps the keys for an envelope with an Asian guy in there and then walks out, he goes one way, the Asian guy goes the other, easy as" I pulled a face.

"What time was this?"

"About 1.30, it was around lunch, so while he was in doing his business with the guy, I was across the street at a Subway grabbing some lunch"

"You know who the other guy was?"

"Nope, didn't know him, never seen him before"

"Have you any idea where this Saunders can be found now?"

"Somewhere in Watts, I don't know; he rings me, gives me a job and a place to meet, I do the job and meet up, I get paid and I go my way, he goes his, been like that for almost two years" He shrugged. "We're business associates, not friends" I nodded slowly and pulled out the envelope inside my leather jacket, sliding it onto the table and across to him. He went to take it but I kept my hand on it. "Two things…" I got a challenging look in return as he replied.

"Yeah?"

"I want that phone number he calls you on" He shrugged.

"Yeah, and?"

"If I find out you've been stringing me along, I'll find you and extract that money, plus the same amount again in blood; you hear me?" He looked me over, maybe deciding if he wanted to piss me off; in the end greed, or maybe self-preservation won,

"Yeah, I hear you, but I'm good and so is my info" I took my hand off the envelope and he snatched it as I pushed a pen and a post it note pad his way.

"That number" I prodded. He checked the envelope then nodded and put it in his coat pocket, pulling out his phone and scrolling through it before finding the number and writing it down, then looking up at me.

"Are we done here?" I nodded.

"We are" He wasted no time leaving. Seeing him leave the others wandered in and over to my table, sitting as I motioned to the waitress. She took orders for the others and once she left I filled them in.

"Okay…" It was Kate. "…how do we find this Saunders?" I looked down into my cup, thinking it over for a few seconds then looking up.

"Saunders is a fixer, the nature of what he does means he has to be found, if he's down in Watts that means we should be able to find him, if we talk to the right people" Jane frowned.

"We're going to stand out like cue balls down there" At Kate's look I explained. "It's a predominantly black neighbourhood" She nodded and glanced around the table.

"So how do you propose getting people to give up Saunders?" she asked.

"Beating it out of them should do it" Ana stated flatly, making me frown.

"Let's save that for the last resort, okay?" Ana was unmoved by the inherent rebuke, making me frown slightly as I pushed on. "I reckon a little cold hard cash will go a long way towards buying some cooperation" There were nods around the table as Jane put it into words.

"We should get moving, we don't have much time" Ana demurred.

"There's one place we need to stop at on the way" I frowned at her as Kate asked the obvious question.

"What for?" Ana looked over at her as she stood and spoke.

"Comms"

 **Los Angeles Central Jail Medical Wing**

Andrea's viewpoint

We walked into the room to see Wynter sitting up in a chair by his bed, his lawyer standing nearby. I didn't waste any time on pleasantries.

Mister Wynter, I am Deputy District Attorney Hobbs, I will be prosecuting you on a wide range of charges" I didn't miss his sudden smirk.

"Are you now, whatever happened to the other blonde bitch? She was so sure of herself, the arrogant ho and now she's not here" I felt my teeth clench in anger but with effort, didn't bite though I saw both Mikki and Amy tense but, forewarned by me, they didn't say anything.

"I assure you Mister Wynter, you will stand trial" I said. "I will prosecute you and I will see you spend the rest of your days behind bars, on Death Row if I can" He sneered at me from the chair he was sitting in.

"I'd watch yourself Hobbs, we wouldn't want anything to happen to you too" Amy took a step forward but at a single word from me she stopped, then stepped back. I looked to Simms and spoke.

"If this is your client's attitude, maybe we should skip the trial and you take a plea, because I can assure you that if he tries this tough guy shtick in a courtroom in front of a judge and jury, they will convict in a heartbeat and demand the maximum sentence"

"Miss Hobbs…" It was Simms. "Let us not pre-judge the court's proceedings…" I raised an eyebrow and broke in.

"I'm not, I'm simply giving your client some advice, advice he's probably too arrogant to consider" I looked to Wynter. "The sentence you'd get by taking a guilty plea would be whole lot more lenient that the one a judge will deliver, even if I'd find it a lot less satisfying"

"Bitch, I'll never see the inside of a court and you know it" I heard the conviction in Wynter's voice and smiled, as coldly as I could, then replied, channelling Alex's response in the same circumstances.

"I am looking forward to you having your day in court Mister Wynter, because I intend to destroy not just you, but any hopes you might be entertaining of ever seeing the outside of a prison" I glanced at Simms. "This visit is a courtesy to let you know that your client is having criminal conspiracy to kidnap charges added to his docket, extending an already long list of charges just that bit further" Simms nodded.

"I understand, however as you will be aware we will be contesting these charges vigorously" I nodded agreeably.

"I'd expect nothing less" I looked to Wynter and shook my head. "But if I were you, I'd make sure you were paid in advance" That got a reaction from Wynter.

"Fuck you bitch" I smiled, happy to set him straight and get some payback at the same time.

"No Mister Wynter, I can guarantee you that will not be happening, not now, not ever and I can assure you that will be one of the things you will be denied as you spend the rest of your life on death row" I tipped my head to regard him. "Unless you like playing bottom to some of the psychopaths you will be sharing your cell block with" I shrugged nonchalantly. "Up to you really" Wynter's voice rising angrily in line with the colour of his face as he gripped the arms of his chair in a white-knuckle grip.

"You're dead bitch! You hear me, dead!" I looked to Simms.

"He's not helping his case but I'm sure you know that" She turned to Wynter.

"Please Mister Wynter, this does both you and your chances in court no benefit" He stared up at her and sneered.

"Shut your fucking mouth bitch" He turned to stare at me, eyes filled with cold anger. "I won't see the inside of that court and neither will you, I'll be free and you, you'll be dead long before then" I worked hard on staying impassive even as I saw the looks on both Amy and Mikki's faces, they were close to losing it, I could tell.

"You are not the first criminal who has threatened me Mister Wynter, nor will you be the last" I shook my head. "A little advice, instead of making threats, you should start working on your defence, you're going to need it" Wynter started spitting threats as I turned and walked away, glad to be leaving him behind. I stopped in the door and looked back.

"We will be seeing you in court"

The last thing I saw was the look on Simms face; it was pure, abject misery.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Maura's viewpoint

We had spent another tense night in captivity. Our captors had fed us, giving us heated pre-packaged meals and bottles of water but we were only uncuffed to allow us to be taken to and from the bathroom. The result was we were all suffering from cramps and muscle spasms.

We had each sacrificed parts of our clothing to supply clean bandages for Rick's hand, given our captors would not supply bandages. We had cleaned and dressed the wound as best we could but I was still worried about infection. The area surrounding the amputation site was still quite red and inflamed, though perhaps not quite so much as it had been, giving a very cautious hope for his prognosis.

It helped that the pain had subsided somewhat, to a level that Rick assured us was tolerable, though he was still wracked with pain spasm's from time to time. To take his mind off it we would converse on any and every subject under the sun, anything for a distraction.

In this case we had moved on from holiday destinations to favourite movies to weddings, we had appraised Rick of Natalie and Anastasia's wedding ceremony, emphasising the quiet, intimate simplicity of the venue and proceedings, now we were discussing ours.

"I want our friends, some of our friends from work, there, neither of us want our families involved" Alex shrugged. "Liv doesn't have a family and my parents have either gone or going" She pulled a face. "Even if they weren't they wouldn't come to our wedding and to be honest I wouldn't want them there" We nodded, I understood her issues with her estranged parents all too well, given I had similar issues with my own.

"What kind of wedding do you want though?" Nat asked, drawing a frown from Alex as she answered.

"I thought I wanted something big, but after yours I'm not so sure" She turned to look at Nat sitting on the other side of Rick from her. "Yours was just for you, Ana and the people you love, that sounds pretty good to me" Rick nodded.

"So any ideas come to mind?" Alex smiled at him.

"I like the idea of a beach wedding and reception, have a pavilion not far from where we have the wedding, down on the beach" I nodded, that sounded lovely. "A stand up reception, have waiting staff circulating with nibbles and drinks, am barefoot wedding" She smiled. "It'd be worth doing just to see Maura in a gown and bare feet" I shook my head at her teasing, not rising to the bait.

"Do you have a location in mind Alexandra?" I asked.

"Somewhere pretty, and isolated so nobody there we didn't want" She smiled at me. "Maybe I can hire an island in the Caribbean or the Great Barrier Reef, amazing weather, crystal clear water and someplace we can have a holiday without having to travel to get to it"

We talked for a while about locations, from the Florida keys to some of the cays around Bermuda, the atolls of the Seychelles and Maldives, the Barrier Reef and some of the Greek Islands, we managed to pass almost half an hour enjoyably before I looked to Rick.

"We have assisted Alexandra with her choices, what about you and Katherine; do you have a stated preference?" Rick carefully, gingerly shifted position, with his good hand cuffed and unable to use his injured one without exacerbating the pain he was somewhat hampered, then nodded.

"I have a place up in the Hamptons, it's been a real refuge at times for both Kate and I, we've used it as often as we can" He gave a snort. "You would not believe how much work it was to get Kate to come visit, well the first time" He smiled gently. "Once she'd seen it though, she loved it" Alex nodded.

"It's in a beautiful location, facing the ocean, the sun ion the morning floods the house full of light" She smiled. "We got to visit a few months back and it's a wonderful home" He nodded.

"Yeah, it's pretty quiet, that's good some times, others, it's great to have other people there, having you guys up that weekend was great" He looked from Alex to Natalie and I. "When we get out of this, I want you to all come and visit, make it a long weekend" We both nodded.

"That'd be great" Natalie stated. "We'd be in that"

"Jane and I would also look forward to a weekend together, under somewhat better conditions than our current accommodations" Rick nodded once.

"I can guarantee they'd be infinitely better" He looked to me.

"I was thinking a small wedding Kate's dad, my mom, Alexis, her partner, a couple of Kate's partners, really small and intimate…"

"And now?" Natalie asked.

"I think I'd have to reconsider, because I have a feeling the guest list has got a little bigger" He looked round at each of us. Have to have family there, by birth and by choice" We all smiled at that before he looked to me.

"What about yours, I mean you've got to have a few ideas" I shifted position, winging as my lower back muscles protested, and attempted to get comfortable again.

"Jane and I have not yet settled on a style or venue, though I believe that given the number of guests coming, we will need a reasonably sized one" I thought about it for a moment. "Almost certainly it will be held here in Los Angeles, given a large number of our guests would be located here" Alex nodded and spoke up.

"We just have to get out of here" Natalie nodded.

"Tsarina will be tearing LA apart trying to find us, the others will be as well" Rick nodded slowly.

"Kate will be the same" He shook his head. "She's relentless at the best of time, finding us? God help anyone in her way"

"It's the same for Liv" Alex stated. "She won't stop until she finds us, and heaven help Simmonds or anyone else who tries to stop her" I nodded, completely in agreement.

"I truly believe that Simmonds did not realise what he was unleashing when he took us, Jane on her own will move heaven and earth to find us, all four of them together…" Natalie nodded.

"We just have to hang on till they find us…I know they will, we just have to hang on"

It was quiet for a while after that.

 **Los Angeles Watts Imperial Courts Project**

Jane's viewpoint

We'd found our guy, it had taken the rest of the day of sniffing around Watts, spreading some cash around to buy help, our cover story was we were PI's chasing Saunders for a paternity suite. We'd got some looks and a few come-ons from some of the locals, but apart from two idiots who'd tried something stupid and got the shit kicked out of them for it, in Ana's case with extreme prejudice, we'd not had too much trouble. We'd eventually found Saunders propping up a bar, working his cell pretty hard, probably chasing jobs. I'd taken a seat in a dim corner and discretely watched him; I'd noticed he hadn't drunk much for the time he'd spent in the bar, and when he'd left I'd followed at a discreet distance, the others were sitting in a Tahoe we'd rented precisely to blend in, given how many were on the road it was as invisible as a SUV of that size could be, as I kept them appraised of what was happening.

We could do that because the first place we'd stopped had been a high end electronics place, almost a thousand dollars later we'd walked out with four military-style radio sets; the actual radio was pretty small and sat inside a jacket pocket with a wire running up to a discrete earpiece, the wire incorporating a sensitive microphone. They weren't Avenger's-style magic communicators, instead built for the Special Forces community, but they had a range of a mile or so and allowed us to hear what was going on with the others, really helpful as we'd split up and looked for Saunders. Now they allowed me to keep them advised of what was going on as I buried myself in the corner and looked like I was spending most of the time on my cell.

Saunders walked home and we followed him carefully as he made his way a couple of blocks down Santa Ana Boulevard then onto Mona Boulevard, exchanging greetings with a couple of people he passed, stopping to exchange a complicated handshake and a chat with a couple of gangers before he kept moving, eventually turning into what I immediately recognised as an old housing project, a sign nearby telling me the name was the Imperial Court, all identical small, low-rise buildings in rows. I'd frowned, that name had alarm bells ringing in my head, remembering it had a bad rep with the LAPD, but I had no choice, we needed to talk to Saunders someplace private.

Carefully following him, darting from one patch of darkness to another I saw him stop in front of a building, pretty much identical to all the others around it, save for the number and fumble for a set of keys.

"Now" I said.

A few seconds later his cell rang. He stopped, looked at it then answered.

"Yeah, what's up?" I could hear Liv's voice through the earpiece.

"Mister Saunders, you don't know me but I am aware of the work you do. I am after information you have and am willing to pay well for it" Saunders' voice was full of suspicion as I passed on the building number to the others.

'I don't know you, why should I talk to you?"

"Because there is a great deal of money involved, some of which would be yours, and as for meeting up with you, turn around" That was my cue. As he spun round I stepped into the light, speaking up.

"Hi" I could see his eyes narrowing, not that I could blame him, it wasn't particularly well lit here, all he could see was my outline, though the fact it was a woman's voice was probably less alarming.

"What the…" He took a step back. "Who the hell are you?" I held my hands up in the universal 'calm down' gesture and spoke up.

"Someone who wants to talk" His initial response was truculence.

"Well I ain't talking to you" I shrugged.

"It's worth your while, you have information and I'm happy to pay for it"

"What information?"

"You passed a vehicle to another guy; I want that guy's name"

"I'm no snitch" I shook my head.

"I'm not looking for trouble, but I am willing to pay you well for the information I need and you have" The repeated mentions of pay must have finally registered.

"How much?"

"Very well paid" It was Liv, emerging from the gloom to speak. "Now are we going to stand around out here where anyone might take an interest or are we going inside and talk real money?"

A minute later we were inside Saunders' shabby but surprisingly clean place while Kate stood watch outside.

"So wadda you want to know anyway?"

"You passed a FedEx van that Park stole for you to another guy, we want his name and contact details and we're in the wind"

"I don't know you, and I don't snitch"

"Maybe you don't know us, but you know our friend, Benjamin Franklin, there's a lot of them for you, just give us a name"

"Nice toy you have here" It was Ana. She pulled a green egg-shaped item that looked kinda like a grenade off a bookcase.

"Hey, that's mine!" he cried; Ana though was unimpressed.

"Do you have the slightest idea what you have here you idiot?" His face reddened at the insult even as he spoke.

"It's a fake grenade, I got it from a mark, he was shifting stuff he'd boosted from some vet's house and he gave it to me with some cash to pay off a debt" He shrugged, a little self-consciously. "It looks cool" Ana shook her head; the look on her face said it all.

"It's real you moron, you have a live M67 anti-personnel grenade sitting in your living room, it's got to be twenty five years old, first Gulf War vintage old, which means it's no longer totally safe" Saunders' eyes grew wide.

"It's live, you mean it could explode?"

"Yeah, kill you, me and anyone else in this room, shred us into raw meat" Saunders acted true to form.

"Cool, that's gotta be worth something to someone" I exchanged an eye-roll with Liv as Ana just stared at Saunders like he was an imbecile, before she could reply though Liv stepped in.

"Look, we want the name of the guy you passed the FedEx van to, that's all we want"

"Why the hell would I give you that?" I smiled.

"Because there's ten thousand in it for you if you give us the name"

"Bullshit" I reached into my jacket and pulled out an envelope, I didn't miss Saunders eyes watching like a hawk as I opened it and shook out a wad of hundreds then spoke.

"About that name?" Saunders reached out.

"Gimme the money" I pulled the cash out and split it into two, handing him one of the bundles, even as I wondered what had happened that I could be so cavalier with so much money. Unbidden though the thought came to me, it was Maura; that explained everything; there was nothing I wouldn't do to get her back.

"The rest when you give us a name" I said as I watched Saunders riffle the wad and nod, putting the money in his jacket pocket and then looking at me.

"His name's Inashi, Tomoe Inashi, he hangs out in Gardena, he blends in there, besides no one there would dare give him up"

"Why?" Saunders shrugged eloquently.

"He's a Yak, no one in Gardena crosses the Yak" I grimaced, Yakuza…shit. Ana spoke, her voice cold.

"We need an address" She got a head shake as he answered.

"I don't got one, he calls me, not the other way round" Liv frowned and spoke.

"A number then" He nodded, his eyes on the rest of the cash.

"That I can do"

 **Los Angeles Watts Imperial Courts Project**

Kate's viewpoint

I was standing outside, half listening to what was happening inside through the earpiece as I kept watch, when everything went to hell in a hand basket.

"Hey girl, what's a fine bitch like you doing here, white girl like you could get herself into all kinds of trouble in the Courts" Groaned silently I turned from where I was standing in a patch of shadow near the door to Saunders' place.

It was a single guy, around near the corner of the building, standing silhouetted against the light he looked big though. I frantically dredged for something to say, I might be able to take him, but I didn't want to raise a fuss, not in the middle of Watt's, not with the car a couple hundred yards away through hostile territory. Vice stings a long time ago came to mind and I called up one of the personas from way back then.

"A girl's got to work, doncha know" I could hear the others suddenly go silent on the comms at my words.

"You a ho?" I buried my frown as I gave him an insolent, sassy grin.

"I prefer the term working girl" He stepped forward into the light and I inwardly winced, he was a big guy, the muscles under the singlet and tatts rippled, he made Liv, for all her efforts, look like an anorexic string bean, he had to be a massive gym junkie and steroid user to get that body, he looked like a comic book character. He ran his eyes over me, obviously appreciating the view, even if I was in jeans, a tee and leather jacket, not really dressed for the part.

"Damn, you're pretty fine girl, a working girl eh?" I nodded agreeably.

"Yeah, girls got to eat and make a living, LA ain't cheap, or a place for the weak"

"Don't I know it" He tipped his head to regard me then spoke. "How much you asking babe?" I inwardly frowned, but played it cool.

"More than you can afford man" He shook his head slowly.

"Can't be that much if you down here girl"

"$1000 bucks for the night" I said, throwing out the first kinda reasonable number that came into my head.

"No way!" Obviously he didn't believe me, or the number. I waved my hand down my body.

"You're seeing what I've got to sell; let me tell you my clients think I'm worth it and more"

"Then why the hell you turning tricks here?" He had a point; fortunately I'd busted enough working girls when I'd been pounding the beat to know what they would have said.

"I go where the cash is, so I do outcalls, make sure I get paid in advance on the card" The guy nodded slowly then grinned at me.

"If you got paid, why don't you dump that loser and you and me can party, I guarantee you it'll be a lot more fun" I had to think quickly, turn this whole mess off before it went much further.

"Thanks man, but I've got a rep to protect; besides I don't do charity"

"Charity! What the fuck?" I held my hands up placatingly, trying for a convincing smile.

"No offence man, but I don't do it for free, no pay, no play" I could see he was still pissed so I continued. "I dump him for you, sure I've got the money, this time, but I won't ever get anymore off him again, and sure as hell you're not going to make up the money I lost" I could see him thinking that over before he spoke.

"How much we talking about anyway?" I shrugged.

"Once, sometimes twice a month down here, or somewhere else, just from that one customer" I saw him nodding.

"I guess. Have to say though you're looking fine there woman, not dressed the way I'd expect though" I shrugged like I didn't have a care.

"Would you let a woman, your sister maybe, or your bae, come down here in a short skirt and heels, parade their ass, their white ass, around this place?" He nodded.

"Fair enough, sure you don't want to hook up, when you not working?"

"Thanks, but no, besides I can't believe a guy with that body has too many issues picking up" I laid it on thick. "Lotsa girls gotta get their hands on that package" He nodded and smiled, all slow and happy, for all the ridiculous muscles he wasn't bad looking.

"Truth, but doesn't mean I ain't interested in you, happy to party when you want" I made a play of thinking it over.

"Maybe, but not today" I blatantly looked him over. "How would I find you anyway?" He shrugged; all moving muscle.

"Just ask for DeShaun, everyone round here knows me"

"DeShaun, I'll keep you in mind, in case I want to do some off the clock work" I made a play of checking my phone. "Speaking on which, that's my call" He nodded.

"What's your name babe; I can't just call you white girl"

"Call me Sugar honey, sweet, white sugar" He barked out a laugh.

"Yeah, that works" He nodded at me. "Don't make me wait too long Sugar"

"See you around DeShaun"

"Later Sugar" With that he turned away and walked on looking back over his shoulder as I gave him a little wave and a smile, before he turned a corner and was lost from sight, leaving me to sag slightly in relief.

"Oh shit"

"I don't know, you seemed to have it under control" I heard her in my earpiece and from behind me, turning to see Liv standing there, the others with her emerging from the shadows, making me frown.

"How long were you there?"

"Long enough" she shrugged. "We heard it all via the radios" Liv said as Jane chipped in.

"Oh he liked you Kate" I gave her the filthiest look I could, not that it worked; she just gave me an insolent smile. Trying again I looked round and spoke.

"Let's all agree to never, ever speak of this again" I said, getting nods from Liv and Jane as Ana spoke, looking round.

"Let's get the hell out of here before we attract any more attention"

We were all in general agreement and turned, making our way quickly towards the closest exit, moving from shadow to shadow. We'd just about made it out of the place when we heard a voice.

"What the fuck you doing here bitches?" I groaned to myself.

"Oh no" Hearing similar sentiments from the others through the earpieces and in Jane's case from where she was right next to me, was weird as I turned to look. There were four, no five of them, they had the look of gang bangers, all looking us over, a combination of curious and hostile.

"I don't think Sugar's going to get us out of this" I muttered as the guys walked over, nervy and excited, like they'd just found a new toy.

"Wow, what we got here, some dumb white ho's, walking our turf" one exclaimed.

"You wanna walk Crips turf, you gotta pay the Crips toll bitches" another stated.

"Let you work it off on your knees maybe" I rolled my eyes, it was nothing I didn't expect, I'd first run across punks like this in NYC walking a beat. The same sort of come-ons from street punks, all puffed up thinking they were somebody important because they wore colours.

"I don't have time for this" It was Ana, giving me barely a seconds warning as she reached out, grabbed the closest guy by the shirt and yanked him towards her, even as her other arm came up and she took him across the throat with a forearm lunge, leaving him sprawled out on the ground feebly gasping for breath, he'd been lucky, if she'd wanted him dead it would have been a lot harder and she'd have used the elbow.

"What the…" The second guy didn't get a chance to say anything more as Jane's first snap kick hit him in the groin, doubling him over, right in line for a knee strike to the forehead that laid him out, semi-conscious. I went for the one furthest away, he was already reaching inside his coat, I didn't know what for, just that I didn't want to find out, I got there first and tangled his arm inside his jacket as I delivered two quick knee strikes to the stomach, making him bend forward, then took a step back and kicked, my boot heel hitting him just above the bridge of the nose, sending him sprawling, stunned, even as a switchblade fell from his nerveless hand.

I looked round to see the fourth guy was unconscious; the blood streaming from his head suggesting Liv had smacked him into the wall next to her, as Ana crouched over the last one, his head in her hand as she slammed it into the concrete drive, hard, then again. I grimaced and stepped forward, grabbing her shoulder.

"Enough, we don't want to kill them" She looked at me for a second, her face a mask before she nodded, then stepped up and back from her victim.

"Let's get the hell out of here before more turn up" At Jane's words we exchanged nods as I spoke.

"Don't just stand there, run" We ran.

 **Los Angeles Watts**

Jane's viewpoint

Two minutes later we were in the Tahoe and headed off, well on our way the hell out of Watts as the adrenaline bled out, leaving me a little sagging, Liv pulling a few twists and turns to confirm we weren't being tailed before making our way towards Malibu, I looked past Liv to the dash and nodded, she was keeping well under the limit, we really didn't need a curious traffic cop showing some interest, not now.

"Yakuza, that sucks" Kate observed from next to me in the back seat, even as Liv nodded.

"The local's won't give him up, they'll be too scared of what the Yak will do in return if they do" I nodded for a second; the Yakuza had an evil reputation for a damned good reason then stopped, looking across at Ana in the passenger seat up front.

"We do know someone high up in the Yak" I commented as Ana got a thoughtful look.

"Maybe, it can't hurt" Kate and Liv exchanged a quick glance before Kate turned to look at me and spoke first.

"Okay I'll bite, who?" I looked to her and smiled.

"The Oyabun of the biggest Yak family in Los Angeles" The look I got was pure scepticism, as was her voice.

"And you intend to just walk in and ask for a favour?" I smiled at her.

"Nope, I was thinking we all walk in and ask for a favour" She exchanged looks with Liv who gave her a nod, Kate then looking back at me.

"Sure, the more the merrier" she said.

Stopping at a set of lights Liv looked around from the wheel to where we were in the back.

"Can we do it tonight, I'm conscious of time" At her question I shook my head.

"I'll have to find where he is, he's a creature of habit, he favours a few places for lunch, so that works for us" Ana looked round at us all.

"I don't know about you, but I really don't feel too happy sniffing after Simmonds and the rest of them without a weapon, not after tonight's issues" I saw nods from Kate and Liv before a honking horn told us the lights had changed. Liv accelerated away as Kate spoke up.

"You know anyone here in LA that sells guns off the record?" I frowned.

"Not really, but then again I really don't want to be running around using guns that might have a record either" There were furrowed brows at that before Liv spoke up.

"I suppose we could buy some legal weapons for self-defence, but if we have to do anything beyond that…" I nodded; my eyes on the street scape as we drove onto the onramp for the 110 and headed north. Legal weapons were fine in case someone came after us, but if were going after them, we couldn't use them. I wracked my brains for a few minutes before Kate spoke, a little tentatively.

"I know a dealer in New York, put enough cash on the table and he'll cough up anything you want, I suppose I could fly over, buy them and then fly back on a private plane…" Ana was dismissive.

"That'd take way too long and if the LAPD is keeping tabs on us, like I would if I was Pope, they'd sure as hell want to know why you'd skipped town, with Rick missing they'd guess you were up to something" She shook her head. "We need someone here in Los Angeles…" she trailed off as Liv flicked a glance across to her, seeing a distant expression on her face.

"Let me guess, you know a guy?" Ana shrugged then explained what she meant.

"Not personally, but the Bureau's been sniffing around a Russian arms dealer here in LA, he's supposed to be able to supply almost anything, for the right price" I shook my head with a snort.

"That's all well and good, but I doubt he'd give us the time of day" I stated.

"Maybe, if the price is right…" Liv said as she turned us onto the interchange for the Santa Monica Freeway, getting a head shake from Kate.

"No, he'd think it was a sting operation, we need a way to get to him so he thinks were Organisatzya" I looked at her.

"How?" She looked to Ana and spoke in some foreign language, one I assumed was Russian.

"Vy govorite po-russki?" Ana looked back at her, eyebrows raised then replied in what I assumed was also Russian.

"Da, nemnogo" Kate smiled and switched back to English.

"Then yes, I do have a plan"


	73. Chapter 73

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **73 Visits**

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Leroy Gibb's viewpoint

I'd flown in late last night, the info I had was something that should have stayed inside the DoD but I felt I owed Romanov an explanation, given she'd been the one that had kicked the whole thing off. Besides, with what I'd heard the case had got even more personal, her wife Natalie Dearing was missing, something that had me really worried so anything I could do to help was the least I could do. It was also something that I didn't think Sarah Mackenzie would be too upset about, given she was another of Romanov's friends, for longer than I'd been actually, as it turned out.

Ringing her cell after breakfast I was given an address that turned out to be miles away from the downtown apartment I'd visited last time, a massive walled estate in an up-scale suburb of eastern Malibu overlooking the Pacific. The house was huge, basically a massive mansion that was invisible from the street. I was buzzed through the gate and was told to drive in and underneath the house to park in an underground car park where I saw a mixed group of cars parked down there, an old red MG I recognised from my last visit, a silver Mercedes convertible, a black mid-60's model Mustang hard top and a late model Audi sedan with rental tags amongst others. Meeting me at the elevator that went upstairs Romanov gave me a firm hug, one that went on a little longer than I'd expect from her, not hard to understand though; I could see the stress in her face, hardly surprising all things considered.

She took me upstairs and through what was a massive and obviously ridiculously expensive mansion and into the main room where I was introduced to three other women, they were all beautiful in different ways though the stress in their faces matched Romanov's. I'd seen what had happened on the news on the flight and could put two and two together so I understood exactly who these other three women were.

They sat me down and gave me a freshly brewed coffee, hot and strong, just the way I liked it and something I desperately needed, while they got settled to hear what I had to say. Looking round the faces I kicked us off with a question.

"Mind explaining what I'm doing visiting you here rather than in your office?" Ana was blunt.

"I don't have an office, given they're our partners we've all been kicked off the case, it got ugly so we're all on suspension" I nodded, looking around the room and taking in the four women sitting there looking at me. I trusted Romanov, if she said they were good that was enough for me, nodding I kicked them off.

"I understand" I stretched a bit, my back was sore from flying coach; then kicked us off. "Those M4 serial numbers you passed on were interesting, according to DoD records those weapons aren't even in the country, some of them are in Iraq, the others in Columbia" I didn't miss the quick exchange of glances between the four before Rizzoli nodded and spoke.

"Interesting, go on"

"The weapons were part of a purchase of new small arms destined for transfer to allied militaries. Some of the weapons were transferred to the Iraqi military, the others to the Columbian military" I leaned forward and sipped my coffee, then placed the mug back on the table and continued. "All the records state that the weapons reached their destination" Beckett nodded and spoke.

"Clearly however they didn't" I nodded as Ana also spoke up, her voice quiet.

"Those weapons had never seen a day of active service" It was a statement, not a question. In return I nodded.

"Yep, as I said, according to our records, they were all delivered however a deeper check into their shipping turned up something interesting" All four women held themselves still as they waited for the other shoe to drop. "The freighter that was carrying the weapons to Iraq hit a bad storm in the Atlantic, got into trouble and lost a lot of the containers above decks overboard in the storm. We can confirm that because a Coast Guard cutter was on station to assist and saw the whole thing" Benson pulled a face and then spoke up.

"One of the containers lost included the one our weapons were supposedly in?" I nodded, reminding myself that they were all experienced cops with impressive histories behind them; none of these women were dumb.

"Dead right, it's now on the bottom of the Atlantic" I grimaced. "Except according to the DoD's records system, that container actually reached Iraq and was transferred to the Iraqi Army, complete with signatures" Ana and Beckett both nodded as Rizzoli spoke up.

"Obviously it never left the country" I nodded once as Beckett looked at me.

"And the ones for Columbia, same deal?" She was quick, they all were. I smiled tiredly as I explained.

"Same deal, according to the computer's records they were delivered however I have someone in the embassy in Bogota doing some discreet enquiries and so far he hasn't been able to locate either the weapons or the Columbian Army Major who supposedly signed for their arrival and transfer" Benson spoke up, her voice quiet.

"Someone inside the military has screwed with the paperwork in the system" Again it wasn't a question; I nodded at her insight and continued.

"Yes, we're currently conducting an investigation. What makes it interesting is that the Marine Quartermaster Sergeant who arranged for the transfer doesn't exist, same goes for the authorizing officer, an Army Colonel who doesn't exist either" I shook my head at the audacity of the plotters. "The purchase order to Colt for the M4s was drawn against a cost center that handles ancillary costs for the F35 jet fighter program, naturally the expenditure was never authorized and the Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who approved the expenditure doesn't exist either" Rizzoli shook her head as she spoke.

"Naturally" I smiled a little sardonically and continued on.

"As you can imagine, that information kicked off a shit storm at the top levels of the Pentagon, right now under the lead of the Judge Avocate General's office, NCIS, the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations and the Army's Criminal Investigation Division are all working together to track down what was done and who was involved" I glanced at Romanov, expecting a small smile at the monumental bureaucratic mess that sort of investigation was creating but she was silent, in fact she looked like she'd withdrawn inside herself, making me frown. Shaking that off I continued.

"That's why I'm in LA, I'm supposed to be briefing in the local NCIS team on their part in the investigation, given it seems there may be a Los Angeles connection based on what you've turned up with this guy Wynter, but it gave me a chance to pass on the info to you" And check on Romanov too I thought, something in what I was seeing there was setting off all sorts of alarm bells; I'd seen her like this back in Baghdad and that was all too scary, the faint aura of death was forming around her just like before. Beckett meanwhile was summarising.

"So we have weapons supposedly gifted to foreign militaries that apparently never left the country; instead they turned up in the hands of well-trained individuals here in the States" I nodded, she was on the money as Benson spoke up.

"Yeah, about that, did you find anything about the two guys killed in the attack on the hospital, the one they caught and the guy who was executed afterwards? They were all ex-military" I nodded in response.

"All were ex-Army, they served in Iraq before getting out, then went back in as consultants employed by a security company called Executive Options. They worked as a team in both Iraq and Afghanistan until they got out of those countries about five years ago and basically dropped off the radar" They shared a look before Benson spoke.

"Simmonds outfit" Nods were passed around before Rizzoli chimed in.

"The guy that got caught was Army National Guard then a contractor" She shrugged. "That's all we've got so far, he's too dumb or maybe scared to talk" I nodded then asked.

"Any chance we might get a crack at him, we might have some success" Rizzoli shrugged.

"You'll need to go through the Deputy Chief running the investigation, Brenda Leigh Johnson" I paused then frowned, that name…

"Is she a small blonde southern woman?" They nodded as I explained. "If it's her then I crossed paths with her back in Iraq years ago, she was some kind of CIA interrogator back then" Rizzoli nodded.

"That's her" Interesting…I made a mental note to talk to her then moved on. I briefed them in on our investigation, we were looking into who had taken delivery of the weapons from Colt in the first place; the name and signature on the receipt that Colt had dug up didn't match up with anyone either. Basically a truck had driven into Colt's shipping centre, handed over the correct paperwork, signed for a consignment of M4s and then driven out, the weapons, the truck and the driver vanishing, not once but twice. There had been concerned looks on all four of their faces when I explained that in total 400 M4s had been handed over to whoever now had them. Benson had been the one to put it into words.

"Jesus, that's a lot of firepower in the wrong hands" I nodded.

The weapons didn't have ammunition or accessories, but you can pick up both easily and legally enough so that doesn't matter" Beckett nodded.

"You could start a war with that many assault rifles" She looked to the others. "Imagine some of the gangers or criminal groups we go up against, armed with M4s" She shook her head, her face solemn. "Dear god" I nodded.

"We naturally have the same concerns, plus we're desperately trying to find out if that same channel was used to acquire other weapons" Rizzoli closed her eyes, in what looked like either pain or resignation, as she spoke.

"Jesus, what else could we be looking at?" I shrugged then gave it to them straight.

"Damned if I know. This whole transaction was small enough that it fell right through the net without anyone noticing"

"You call 400 assault rifles missing small?" It was Beckett, obviously appalled. I nodded tiredly.

"For an organisation that cumulatively spends tens of billions on hundreds of thousands of programs annually it wasn't even chump change" There was another round of exchanged glances before Romanov spoke up, she'd been silent so far.

"What other weapon purchases have you so far identified" Her eyes narrowed. "Obviously there's the RDX used in the bombs" I pulled a face, she'd cut to the core of it.

"Yeah, about that, that was supposed to have gone to the Philippines but obviously didn't" I grimaced. "In total the RDX consignment that went missing from the Picatinny Arsenal was 250 kilos" I saw her eyes widen in shock as Rizzoli looked between us and asked.

"How bad is that? I thought it was 25 kilos which is bad enough; I guess 250's even worse but just how bad is 250 kilos?" I looked at Romanov who was shaking her head and then answered Rizzoli's question myself.

"In the hands of an expert it's enough to turn any major city-block sized high-rise building into flattened dust, no survivors" Beckett looked at me wide-eyed.

"You're joking?" I shook my head.

"Trust me, I'm not" I said before Benson shook her head and dragged us back to the original topic.

"Besides the M4s and the explosives, what else do they have?' I pulled a face before answering.

"We're not exactly sure, the procurement trails are still being gone over forensically, but we've already found a few other things that have been 'disappeared' like the M4s" I took in Benson and Beckett's enquiring looks and Rizzoli's resigned one and explained. "Almost 500 M9 pistols, tactical radios, night vision gear and body armour" Beckett shook her head as Benson muttered to herself.

"Explains the guys at the second shootout" At my enquiring look she explained. "Just before we were kicked off the investigation there was an attempt on Chief Johnson's life, the guys who did the attack had M4s; jungle-camo this time, probably with similar serial numbers, they also had Army-issue body armour under their maintenance coveralls, same as the guys who attacked the hospital. We hadn't worked out where it came from before we were kicked off the case" She shrugged. "Guess we now know" Beckett spoke up.

"A witness to this case was killed in a drive-by, a van pulled up alongside at a red light, the door opened and they shredded the car and everyone in it with a heavy machine gun, a .50 caliber heavy machine gun" I winced.

"Yeah, an M2, that'd do it" I got nods from everyone at that. "I'll get my people looking into that as well" They spent some time passing on what they had from their investigation into Wynter, plus some connections they'd been able to pull together linking Wynter to this Simmonds guy, he seemed to be Wynter's go to guy for killings, something that his Iraq history backed up.

After completing the briefing we chatted for a while, basically I was keeping an eye on Romanov; what I was seeing made me worried, very worried. Finally I got the opportunity to talk to Rizzoli separately while Romanov was making me a strong coffee to take with me. I didn't mince my words.

"You need to keep a close eye on Romanov" Rizzoli raised an eyebrow in question then spoke.

"Yeah?" I glanced through the door to the kitchen where Romanov was standing at the espresso machine with Beckett and Benson then back to Rizzoli as I spoke.

"Look, I've seen this before, like this but not as bad" Rizzoli frowned.

"What do you mean?" she said. I took a breath, shooting another glance back to the doorway then forged on.

"There's a darkness inside Romanov, don't get me wrong, she's a fantastic person, but there's something in her that comes out when she's under immense pressure, something dark and well…evil, right" Rizzoli peered at me for a moment then prompted me to continue.

"Go on" I grimaced at a memory.

"I've seen it before, back in Iraq, it wasn't here when I was out here a few months back, her partner, Natalie, she keeps it at bay but I can see it's back and way worse than before" Rizzoli nodded abruptly and spoke. Her voice tense as I realised she was under her own pressure too.

"That's hardly surprising is it? Given everything that's going on" I held in a sigh, she wasn't getting it, I suppose she hadn't seen it before.

"Look Rizzoli, you don't understand, at her core Romanov's a killer, when the darkness takes over she's as stone cold a killer as you'd ever not want to meet, I watched her pull out a pistol, ready to cold-bloodedly murder two soldiers who were harassing her in a bar back in Baghdad, threatening to run a rape train on her" I grimaced at that memory, those horrifying few seconds before I was able to talk her down off the edge. "If I hadn't been there they'd both be dead and she'd have killed them without a second thought" The look of shock on Rizzoli's face might have been comical under other circumstances. I watched as it was replaced with a hard look as she replied.

"Murder, Ana?" She shook her head, trying to collate what I was telling her with the woman she knew, well thought she did anyway. "No way"

"You haven't seen her like this Rizzoli" I said, trying to make her understand. "Those two guys threatened her at exactly the wrong time, the Abu Graib trials had wrapped up, she'd got convictions but she'd copped a lot of flak for it, she knew her career in the Army was pretty much dead for doing the right thing, her personal life was a mess because someone she cared about had died and she'd started taking on riskier and riskier missions" I shook my head at that terrifying memory, she had been bare seconds away from murder, then continued. "Romanov was self-destructing in front of me and it was only a matter of time, she was a ticking time bomb and she nearly blew up in that bar" I shook my head again, remembering the cold monster she'd become... Rizzoli was still having trouble reconciling what I was telling her with the person she knew.

"That's not who she is now, not anymore" I shrugged as I replied.

"A week ago I'd have agreed with you, though that potential's always been there, what changed was having Natalie in her life, when someone threatened that, well we both saw what happened at that ambush…"

Rizzoli nodded slowly, she'd been there, I'd seen her in the YouTube footage of the ambush too, the Ana I'd seen in that video was a machine, a killing machine, she'd double-tapped that ganger like it was nothing then looked for the next target, calm and cold as anything you'd see in the movies. I frowned and pushed on.

"All it took to bring that darkness back was a threat to Natalie, now this, god help us. The darkness is there, I mean it's here now, I can see it, just barely under the surface, you need to be ready when it takes over, Jesus protect whoever gets in her way when it does" I watched as Rizzoli nodded slowly, obviously thinking it over and taking in the changes, she was a cop, apparently a good one, as such she was a trained observer and was comparing the woman she knew with the one she had now, I could see her coming to the same conclusion as she looked up at me and asked the obvious.

"What do I do?" I ran my hand through my hair as I spoke, quietly but firmly, to get her to understand that she was dealing with an unstable, highly-volatile explosive here.

"Be there for her, be understanding, be ready to support her, make sure you can head her off before she does something stupid, look for her taking risks, stupid ones, that's a real sign" He shook his head. "God help anyone she goes off at, they're probably dead" She stared at me dead straight as I pressed home my point. "If you can, point her at whoever's done this and then stand back, let her do the rest" Rizzoli chewed her lip for a second then looked up at me and spoke.

"Is she that bad?" I nodded; I needed her to understand what she was potentially dealing with.

"When she lets go, she'll kill anyone in front of her and won't stop till nothing's left alive or they kill her before she can kill them" I shook my head then looked her straight in the eye, willing her to understand. "Don't be between her and that target"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I hate bad news and this case was delivering what seemed to be a never ending series of nothing else. I looked up at the latest dose of it, delivered by Lieutenant Provenza.

"Could you please explain exactly how our witness ended up dead Lieutenant?"

"Ryerson was knifed with a makeshift shiv in prison overnight, apparently he was in the bathroom, using the urinal, when someone approached him from behind and stabbed him multiple times in the kidneys and liver" Provenza shook his head. "He screamed, as you'd expect, but by the time guards got there, he was already bleeding to death" I closed my eyes and held in a curse.

"And his attacker?"

"In the wind, according to the Prison Governor, despite their questioning everyone even remotely close by, of course no one admits to…"

"Seeing anything" I finished, drawing a reluctant nod.

"Afraid so Chief" I scowled, even without proof I just knew who was behind this.

"It has to be Simmonds" I stated, drawing agreement from Provenza.

"Looks like, the fact he can reach inside the prison systems pretty scary" I nodded as he continued. "He's got a real hard-on for tying off loose ends" I went to nod then stopped. ' _Loose ends…_ '

"Lieutenant Provenza, can you please get Lieutenant's Flynn, Caine and Taylor in here, right away please" He nodded, obviously puzzled but happy to comply. A few moments later I had the four of them in my office.

"As you're no doubt aware, the lone survivor of the team that attacked the hospital was killed in prison, shanked by another prisoner" I got four sets of nods as I continued. "The person who did that no doubt was paid to do so, but represents a loose end, and as Lieutenant Provenza so recently pointed out, we all know what Simmonds does with loose ends" I saw nods and comprehension dawning, these were all smart, capable officers.

"I want you all to head down there, interview any and all of the suspects. You're all experienced officers and interrogators, I want you to remind each of the suspects what happened to everyone else who came into contact with Simmonds schemes; play it up if you have to but put the fear of god into them, shake them and maybe the culprit might decide they prefer living"

"Will do Chief" Andy said as the others nodded and Caine spoke.

"We'll see what we can shake loose" I smiled.

"Off with you then…and gentlemen…" They turned back to look at me. "Good luck"

 **Los Angeles West Hollywood Maxim Gorky's Bar**

Kate's viewpoint

Ana and I walked into the bar, it wasn't a dive but it sure wasn't far above it. I glanced at her, she was wearing a very good quality auburn wig, the curly hair sure looked natural, plus she had green contacts over her natural grey eyes, people with grey eyes were rare and easily remembered so we had to give them something else equally memorable. I had my hair tightly braided and was wearing a straight, dark-haired wig over it, sourced from the same supplier as Ana's, plus a set of blue contacts, I thought I looked a bit like Liv Tyler in Pulp Fiction. We were each wearing dark pants suits over white blouses, mine was one of Natalie's but it was a close enough fit for what we wanted to do. The sunglasses weren't necessary here in the dim light but they did help cover our faces, something that might become important in the future.

Neither of us were wearing the radios, that would be a quick death sentence from these guys if they caught us with something that looked like official issue, they'd assume we were the cops, or the Feds, either would be terminal, so we were running alone on this, if this all went sour Jane and Liv wouldn't be able to help us, they'd just have to keep going without us, Rick and the others would need them.

We walked up to the bar and stood side by side, trying to appear as if the stares we were attracting from the bar's inhabitants were of no concern. The bartender turned to face us, a frown crossing his face as he took us in; we obviously weren't part of his regular clientele; in fact I'd hazard a guess that this wasn't a place a beautiful woman would ever want to be caught in. He let his eyes roam over both of us for a few seconds then took a few steps our way and spoke in English

"What can I get you two?" I nodded from behind my dark glasses and spoke in Russian.

"Two vodka's, the good stuff, Pyatizvyozdnaya, not the swill from the bottom shelf" He raised an eyebrow, then turned away, reaching high up the shelves and pulling down a bottle with the famous five stars on the label. He came back with two glasses and poured both drinks, two fingers worth, pushing them towards us. Without a word Ana and I reached out and tossed our drinks down in one gulp, we both released an explosive 'ah' as the vodka burned its way down, the honey in it not doing much to counter the burn. I smacked the glass back on the bar as did Ana before I spoke.

"Another" He let his eyebrow rise but did so. I nodded and took the glass, sipping it this time, enjoying the taste, before addressing the barman. "We wish to speak to Vitali Reznikov" I raised an eyebrow. "Please" He glanced around the room then back to us.

"Never heard of him" Ana spoke for the first time, her Russian accent that of St Petersburg compared to mine which was that of Kiev.

"Do not waste our time or his, we have business with him" She lowered her voice. "Get him now" I glanced her way then back at the barkeeper.

"Excuse my friend, she is not one for small talk and gossip" I smiled politely, good cop to her bad. "Please let Vitali know that two emissaries from New York are here to see him on business"

"Like I said, I don't know anyone…" He stopped as I held up my hand.

"As said, we have business to discuss" I carefully reached into my jacket, seeing people across the bar tense and hands moving out of sight. I slowly withdrew it holding a white envelope and let it drop on the bar. "Now then, I believe Vitali would like to see what is in that envelope and hear what we have to say" He glanced at the envelope, then back to us, once more down at the envelope then reached out and scooped it up, feeling its weight, then spoke.

"Don't move" He turned and walked away, leaving us here at the bar, stopping and turning to address the bar. "Watch them" With that he disappeared through the door, leaving us alone, well alone with the bar's patrons.

We stood there at the bar, carefully sipping our drinks and waited; as expected it didn't take long. With a scrape of chairs two of the bigger thugs stood and walked our way, boxing us in as we ignored them, nursing our drinks and watching them in the tarnished mirror behind the bar, obviously they'd decided that they could have some fun with us. After a minute or so the quiet got too much for them, with the big guy to our left kicking them off.

"What pretty little tyolka you are, perhaps you are shlyukha?" There were a couple of laughs but we remained impassive, obviously annoying them, these were men not accustomed to being ignored; it offended their sense of self-worth. Finally the one who'd spoken tried again.

"Hey suka, I'm talking to you" The one to our right reached out for Ana, resting his hand on her shoulder. She glanced at his hand then up at him, her voice flat and cold.

"Remove your hand or lose it" She got a surprised laugh from the guy followed by the others before he looked round the room, playing to his buddies watching, then looked back down at her and spoke contemptuously.

"Devochki thinks she has teeth" He looked round at his pals again and grinned then turned back to Ana. "I am so scared" He forcibly pulled her round on the stool to face him. "I think I will like doing you pizda, make you squeal like a bitch when I screw you" He threw a look at me. "Before I do your podruga" He barked out a laugh. "Perhaps I do you both, watch you ride my kulak" I worked real hard at staying cool, knowing he was crudely trying hard to get a rise out of us but my temper was starting to run out.

Ana didn't say a word but I could see her sudden tensing, alerting me to get ready before she exploded into action, almost too fast to see. Her left hand tossed the vodka in her glass into the guys eyes as her right hand snapped up to grab his fingers and twist savagely, dropping the glass on the bar her left hand swung across and slammed into the back of his elbow, almost shattering it, the impact knocking him off balance as she thrust one leg out, tripping him and sending him crashing to his knees, stabbing pain shooting up his arm and shoulder as she wrenched it up high and back. I'd spotted a shoulder holster as he fell so even as the men around the room surged to their feet I spun off the stool and stepped forward, my hand snatching the pistol from the holster and bringing it to his temple as I spoke.

"Perhaps you need to learn a lesson" In three seconds the bar was full of men with pistols in their hands, mostly pointed at us. I smiled though I didn't feel it and held the hand holding the pistol up, pointing it to the ceiling as I tried to sound cheerful. "Easy boys, easy; I am not looking for trouble, not unless trouble comes looking for us" I carefully laid it down on the bar and pushed it away down the length, this wasn't a situation I could shoot my way out of, not with more than a dozen people here, most with guns in their hands.

"What is happening here?" I turned at the new voice, carrying the hint of a Muscovite, to see a large, heavy set man standing there, the bar keeper behind him, hopefully this was Reznikov.

"We were disturbed while waiting to conduct business" He nodded once.

"So I see" The bar keeper moved past him and collected the pistol as the man, Vitali Reznikov I assumed, spoke again. "Did you really think you could take on the whole bar by yourselves?" I shook my head once, keeping my eyes on him as I tried for confident, he couldn't afford to see weakness or our whole house of cards would fall down around our ears, almost certainly fatally.

"No, if something bad happened to us, well a firebombing of this place and everyone in it would follow quickly enough" He paused for a moment then slowly nodded, holding the envelope in his fingers.

"You claim to have business with me" I nodded.

"We do" He was impassive.

"Why should I care what you want?" I looked at him and waved his objection away as I spoke.

"Sergei Alexander Popov would be displeased if he felt you were ignoring his request" There was a sudden stilling at the name of the most powerful man in the Organizatsia in North America, the name garnered fear and respect in equal measure. Finally Reznikov spoke.

"I was not aware that he had business out here" I shrugged as I replied.

"Mister Popov is not in the habit of explaining himself and his actions to others" I smiled. "That is our job" Reznikov stared at us for a moment then nodded.

"This way" I glanced at Ana who nodded, then, with a savage twist, snapped the guy's wrist well past the angle it was supposed to go; I heard the sudden crack, surprisingly loud in the quiet room, followed by the guy's agonised intake of breath, to his credit he didn't scream even though she'd just snapped one and possibly several bones. The guy didn't dare move; Ana still had his wrist in her hand as she leaned in, when she spoke her voice was brutally cold and curt.

"The next time, I will break your neck" She contemptuously shoved him aside and he went sprawling as she turned away, seeing Reznikov watching her; in response to his unspoken question she shrugged and spoke. "He was disrespectful and nekulturny, he needed a lesson in manners, one that I hope I will not have to repeat" Reznikov nodded and stepped back, his hand indicating the door.

"This way" He repeated. I nodded and walked round the man still kneeling where he was cradling his wrist and made my way to the door, grabbing the Pyatizvyozdnaya bottle on the way. Ana scanned the room then grabbed the two glasses we'd been drinking from and followed me through the door.

We were led down a corridor into an office, it was nondescript, though large enough for us all, plus the four thugs / bodyguards who followed us into the office and took up places around and behind us as we took the seats facing him across his desk. Reznikov was a big guy, somewhat overweight but still reasonably dressed in a button down, jeans and a zip up windcheater; clean shaven, he looked like a businessman, an owner of a reasonably prosperous hardware store maybe, not one of the top underground arms dealers on the West Coast. He settled himself back in his seat and watched as Ana placed the glasses in front of me. I poured two fingers into each then another two fingers into a glass sitting near his desk phone; no real Russian did business without a drink at hand. Finished, I put the bottle down and picked up my glass, as did Ana, and lifted it in a toast.

"Za vstrechu!" He nodded and joined us as we knocked back the toast then repeated it, somewhat pro forma.

"Za vstrechu" We placed our glasses on the table; I refilled them and then sat back, waiting. He tapped the envelope he'd dropped on the desk, it contained $10,000 in cash, for a moment then spoke.

"Now, who are you?" I sat back and shrugged.

"My name is…" I paused for a moment and then continued. "You may call me Dasha" I tipped my head to where Ana was sitting. "My partner here is Illyana" He raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing it for a minute.

"And I am supposed to believe that two…women like you work for him?" I shrugged.

"Believe what you want, I do not care, instead I am here to do business with you"

"What exactly is it you want from me?" He gave a one shoulder shrug. "You said you wanted to talk, so talk" I launched into our spiel.

"Your reputation is well known Vitali Vladimirov, if it is weapons one seeks, you are the man to seek" I smiled politely. "We need weapons thus we have come to you" He eyed us with scepticism writ large on his face.

"How do I know you are who you say you are?"

"You could ring him, I have his number with me" I shrugged nonchalantly, as if it was a matter of no account, reaching into my coat carefully as the people in the room tensed and pulling out my phone and held it out to him. "Feel free" I shrugged again. "Or I could call him" He stared at the phone for a moment then looked up at me, his eyes hard.

"You expect me to believe you will call him?" He looked from me to Ana and back again, skepticism easily seen in his face. "Just like that?" I woke my phone up then hit the dial button, I'd already set it up. As it dialled I hit the speaker button, letting the ringing sound out into the room, after a few seconds a female voice picked up and spoke in English.

"Ustinov Investments, how can we be of assistance" I smiled as Reznikov's eyes went wide and he paled at the name as I spoke in Russian-accented English.

"I would like to speak to Mister Popov, please tell him it is Dasha Perova calling; I need his assistance, I have encountered a small problem in Los Angeles that needs his personal attention" Reznikov suddenly shook his head, fear and worry obvious in his face and voice.

"Nyet, nyet, not required" I smiled a little wider, then spoke.

"It seems the issue has been resolved; please accept my apologies for the inconvenience" The woman was unfazed but then again, working for Popov, being unflappable was probably part of the job description.

"Of course" she said as I ended the call and looked back at Reznikov. "I know what you are thinking, I could have just called as a bluff" ' _Which it just was_ ' I thought to myself before continuing; I smiled then pursed my lips as if in thought before speaking. "Have you met Mister Popov?" He nodded once and spoke.

"I have" I nodded then spoke.

"Tall, late thirties, dark hair, brown eyes, always impeccably dressed, suits, tie, cufflinks, works out of an investment house down in Little Odessa, Brighton Beach in New York" I tipped my head to regard him then continued. "Two things most people who have heard of him don't know" Reznikov leaned forward, his hands clasped together on the desk top.

"Yes?"

"He does not use one of the more popular smart phones as most do these days. Instead using a Blackberry" I shrugged. "He much prefers the encryption security that the Blackberry provides over more popular mobile devices" Reznikov looked unimpressed.

"So?" I smiled and sat back.

"He wears a silver signet ring on the second finger of his right hand, on that ring is the double headed eagle of the old Czarists, not the current Russian Federation Eagle, the old one used by Ivan the Terrible, in that one the Eagle isn't holding anything in its claws, unlike Putin's Eagle" I'd noticed that detail when the light had reflected off it as Liv and I had talked with him in New York's Glechik Café a couple of months back and recognised the design from my visit to Russia, looking it up later to confirm my suspicions, something I was really, really thankful for now. Reznikov stared at me for several moments then nodded once.

"What are you to him anyway?" I sat back and tried for casual as I spoke.

"We clean up matters that Mister Popov wishes dealt with" He let his eyes widen in obvious disbelief.

"You, he sends women to do his work?" I smiled as coldly as possible as I replied.

"Many men have underestimated our capabilities and commitment on the basis that we are women, all to their detriment" Ana tipped her head to regard him for a second then spoke up for the first time since we'd sat down.

"As did your man outside, it will be several months before he will be using that hand" Reznikov frowned at that, annoyance in his voice.

"Was that necessary? He will be useless to me" Ana was obviously unimpressed, her voice coldly dismissive.

"I would say he was useless to you anyway, he was a savage thug, stupid and crass, useful for not much more than extorting lunch money from deti" She sat back. "He needed a lesson, he should be thankful it cost him so little" Reznikov stared at her then spoke.

"You are arrogant" Ana shrugged, clearly unconcerned as I answered.

"No, we are experienced and confident, there is a difference" He shrugged as he replied.

"So you say" Ana spoke up again, her voice full of bitingly cold contempt.

"Your men here are like most, they think with their cock around pretty women, not with their brain" Ana slid her dark glasses down her nose, letting Reznikov see her green eyes then glanced to the side then back to him as she continued. "Your man here…" She waved her hand at the thug standing near her right shoulder. "…is so busy trying to look down my blouse to see my tits that he is standing within range of my fist" She flicked a glance up to his face then continued. "The first strike to his groin will drop him to his knees, the second to his throat will crush his trachea and shatter his voice box, he will suffocate in less than three minutes while unable to scream, his body convulsing in pain as it desperately attempts to feed his lungs with air, truly an…unpleasant way to die" She looked at the thug who had unconsciously taken a step back, then back to Reznikov before pushing the sunnies back up her nose and sitting back, giving me an opening.

"Vitali Vladimirov, we did not come here to trade threats and insults, but to do business with you" I smiled, hopefully as coldly as Ana and continued. "Are you interested in dealing or should we be required to return to Mister Popov to report on your cooperation, or lack thereof?" Ana smiled, completely without humor and spoke quietly.

"I am sure he would want his displeasure at such poor hospitality well appreciated" She glanced around the room at the four men watching then back at Reznikov. "Perhaps he might send us both back here to make sure you are aware of exactly how displeased he is" She shrugged. "Making examples of people is what we do" I leaned forward, holding up one hand to stop her, all theatrics of course, and spoke.

"Let us hope for your sake that is not required" I smiled. "We came here to do business and business is what we wish to do" Reznikov's eyes bounced back and forward between us both for what must have been twenty seconds before he spoke.

"What do you want?" I launched into the story we'd prepared.

"We were forced to pursue someone of interest to the Organizatsia; he dared embezzle from his employer, his employer in turn reports to Mister Popov. Realising that he was a dead man if he stayed he fled the East Coast and made his way out here. We were forced to follow him on a commercial flight, meaning our luggage was subject to scanning" I shrugged as if it was a trifling matter. "Because of the TSA, we were forced to leave our weapons behind, and while we could get them shipped to us from New York, we are in a hurry and thus we seek to acquire new ones while we are here, for cash" He nodded.

"That is possible, what weapons do you seek?" I sat back and folded my hands together as I rested my elbows on the chair's arms.

"Four pistols, 9 millimetres if possible, virgins, no previous history, nothing that will appear in the police databases" He nodded, obviously unfazed.

"What else?"

"Ammunition, two magazines of full metal jacket and two of hollow point per weapon" He nodded.

"That I can do, how soon do you need them?" I shrugged.

"The sooner the better, our target is running, we would wish this matter to be dealt with as soon as possible"

"I can have them for you within the hour" I let my eyebrows rise, that quickly…

"That would be more than acceptable" He sat back, one hand toying with his glass then spoke.

"Do you not want to know the price?" I shrugged again and glanced at Ana who nodded slightly before I replied.

"Name it, I am sure it will be fair" He bobbed his head once.

"$1200 dollars per weapon, with the extra magazines and ammunition, I will do the entire deal for $5,500 dollars" Ana frowned, that was way above street costs, then spoke coldly.

"Expensive, I hope these weapons are worth the money, not street musor" Reznikov gave her a hard stare as he replied.

"All four will be Glock 19s, still in their original factory wrapping, never fired, never even handled" He smiled a little off kilter at her. "Is that acceptable?" Ana sat back as I nodded once then spoke.

"Yes, time is of the essence so your terms are acceptable" I tipped my head to regard him. "Your reputation was well earned I see" He smiled, though there wasn't much sincerity there.

"I believe I can supply just about anything you may ask for, this was not difficult at all, I can meet most requests" I caught Ana leaning forward from the corner of my eye and turned as she spoke.

"Anything?" She let a touch of scepticism into her voice, something Reznikov picked up on, he sat forward, no doubt stung a little by her tone as he spoke.

"Of course, what do you seek?" Ana smiled, for the first time there was something like warmth in it.

"What do you have in the way of sniper's rifles?" He sat back and looked at her before speaking.

"That will cost you, such items are not cheap" In reply she reached into her jacket and retrieved a second envelope, tossing it onto the table near the first as she spoke.

"Now then, what do you have?" He lifted the envelope, obviously realising it weighed the same as the first, then glanced at her, a wide, greedy smile breaking out.

"Whatever you want"

Tyolka = Derogatory term meaning female cow

Shlyukha = Whore

Suka = Bitch

Devochki = Little girl

Pizda = Cunt

Podruga = Girlfriend

Kulak = Fist

Nekulturney = Uncultured, with implications that the person so called is gutter filth

Za vstrechu! = "To our meeting!", a generic toast

Nyet = No

Deti = Young children

Musor = Rubbish / trash


	74. Chapter 74

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **74 Progress**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I looked up as my four lieutenants walked back in, watching as they made a bee line towards my office, that alone telling me they had something, I sure hoped so as we had little else to go on in finding Simmonds and getting our people back.

"Gentlemen, please come in, I trust you have something good to tell me?" They exchanged glances before Caine spoke up.

"Yeah, we found the guy, it took some hard persuading and a bit of deal making but we have a name" I happily sat back and smiled.

"What do you have?"

"A Crips' low-life named Velez, he shanked Ryerson on the orders of another Crips' guy on the outside" Caine said as I frowned, ' _the Crips?_ '

"What was the Crips' involvement?" Taylor shrugged.

"Don't rightly know, but we've got a name, Cortez, the leader of the PJ Crips, he's the one who passed on the order to Velez"

"What did you have to do to get Velez to talk?" I asked, intrigued. Taylor looked to Provenza who shrugged as I leaned forward to listen.

"We started eliminating everyone who had at least two alibis', that left us with three guys who were in the right place and time" He glanced round at the others then continued. "Two of them were in for multiple drug offences, but Velez was in for armed robbery, assault, manslaughter and was suspected of involvement in a homicide, but nothing was ever proved" Flynn backed up his partner.

"He looked like the best bet so we pulled him into interrogating and went to work on him, two hours of explaining what Simmonds had done to each and every one of the people he'd used made it clear that he was a dead man, it was just a matter of when" I couldn't help the proud smile I wore.

"Gentlemen, I'm impressed, very impressed. What did he want in return?" Taylor answered my query.

"He wanted immunity, not that was ever going to happen, but we're arranging for him to be shifted to a completely different prison upstate, probably with a different name, plus we promised we'd look into getting his family moved away from the Crips territory" Caine nodded and explained.

"Apparently the Crip's were looking after his family, that's the leverage they had, so when this Cortez told him to take Ryerson out, it was on the understanding that doing so was good for his family"

"This Mister Cortez sounds a real charmer, I look forward to getting him into interrogation" Andy Flynn nodded.

"That's why we asked for him to be picked up, he's being brought in as we speak"" I smiled happily and nodded.

"Gentlemen, you continue to exceed my already high expectations and let me say I'm very grateful for your efforts" I paused, seeing the smiles my words brought, then continued. "What made this man Velez give up his gang leader?" They exchanged looks before Provenza spoke.

"We may have shown him the images of everyone who's died on this case, directly or indirectly, leaving him with the impression that he was likely to be killed off by a psychopath" Caine nodded.

"The shots of the car shredded by the machine gun, plus the one of that Columbian without a face, the one Beckett and Rizzoli took out, they sure made an impression" I nodded.

"Excellent" I glanced at the clock on the wall. "How long before we have this Crips leader brought in?" They shared a look around before Flynn spoke.

"Probably an hour, maybe a bit more" I nodded slowly.

"That gives us some time to prepare"

"Prepare Chief?" It was Taylor.

"A little theatrical performance to make it clear to Mister Cortez that it is his best interests to point us towards Mister Simmons" I saw Flynn and Provenza nod, they'd had enough opportunity to see me at work to know what I was on about, Taylor and Caine however were obviously a little dubious. I looked up to Andy Flynn.

"Lieutenant Flynn, would you please be good enough to let Captain Collins know that I really need to see him at his very earliest convenience, it is rather urgent" He nodded as I looked to the others. "Lieutenant Caine, Lieutenant Taylor, you are more than welcome to be present when I talk to this Cortez" They exchanged a glance before Taylor nodded.

"Wouldn't miss it for anything"

 **Washington DC The Pentagon**

Leroy Gibbs viewpoint

Sarah Mackenzie and I were sitting back in the same shielded conference room. While it may have been overkill to do so, until we got a handle on just how far the claws of the Cabal reached into the Pentagon we were 'better safe than sorry' as the saying went.

Our counterparts Fong from the Air Force and the Army's Keenan were looking into their own services connections, leaving us to dig deeper into what we had with the Navy and Corps.

"We're looking into any connections that this Simmonds guy has with serving personnel" Mackenzie nodded at my statement.

"How far back?" I shrugged.

"His time in Iraq forward, but given he was an operator…" I referred to his Special Forces assignment. "…we're looking at a lot of people" She nodded.

"Anyone with computer skills?" She pulled a face. "Given the efforts the cyber-security guys put into stopping hacking attempts, it's unlikely that it's coming from outside the system" I frowned, that sort of hacking work wasn't my area.

"You sure? I mean if they had someone else's logon wouldn't that give them access?" She shook her head.

"I had an…interesting hour's discussion with the head of the Defence Criminal Investigative Service Cyber Operations' counter-intrusion section, his statement was that yes, someone getting their hands on a remote login could access some parts of the system, but the various service's systems are somewhat compartmentalised for precisely that reason. As soon as I briefed him in on the scope of what we'd already found, the multiple bogus approvals, the transfer docs and such, he was certain it was someone inside the system" She grimaced. "In fact the first place he's looking is at his own team, they're actually best placed to be able to pull this off"

"Wow, I bet that was hard for him to admit" Mac nodded.

"Oh yeah, he was not a happy man" She tipped her head to regard me. "Anything come out of your trip west?" I shrugged.

"The local NCIS team is talking to the LAPD to try and tie down this Danny Wynter, looking for any connections with the military out west" I pulled a face. "He kept a low profile but now they're tripping over dead bodies out there, the latest is the lone gunmen they arrested after that hospital attack" Mac nodded, that attack had been worldwide news. "He was killed in prison, the LAPD believe it was to keep him silent"

"Simmonds" she stated, not asked, drawing a nod from me.

"Yeah, that was the LAPD's conclusion too, they've tagged him as Wynter's security guy, he's been very effective in tying off any possible connections to his actions and those of this Cabal" At her questioning look I explained. "That's what the local cops are calling them"

"Okay, so where do we go next?" I'd given that some thought on the way back from LA, god knows almost six hours in the back of a 737 with no Wi-Fi meant I'd had plenty of chances to think of nothing else, but she wasn't going to like where I was going.

"Y'know, I'm no expert in this sort of thing, computer hackings not my MOS" by which I meant Military Operational Specialty, basically what you did in the military. "…but there aren't too many areas that have the run of the military" Mac nodded, the military was siloed like few other places, all four services, well five if you count the Coasties, lived in their own silos, separated from each other by thick walls of tradition, budget, and ethos. It was a Pentagon truism during the cold war that the real enemy wasn't the Soviet's, it was the other services.

"True, that's why the Cyber Ops guy was so unhappy" I nodded.

"There is one area that has the run of the place and no one dares look sideways at anything they do" She looked at me for a moment, then her eyes widened.

"You're suggesting…" As her voice trailed off I nodded.

"The DoD Inspector-General's people, they have oversight over almost everything, and no one would dare question anything they do" DoD IG was a feared section within the Pentagon and the five services, they had oversight over the entire US military, with a mandate to, amongst other things, prevent and detect fraud and abuse

"Oh god, they're not going take lightly to anyone suggesting they're not squeaky clean" Sarah said

"I know, but still, they come and go as they please, do what they please, and no one dares ask why"

"We'd need to see if there was any connection to Simmonds, or Wynter" I nodded.

"Or any of the other four suspected Cabal conspirators" I pulled out a list of their names and handed it across. She ran her eyes down the list and nodded.

"The LAPD have this?" I nodded.

"Yeah, but Ana gave it to me" I paused, wondering what to say, then continued. ""She's been kicked off the investigation due to the personal connection" Mac looked up and I could see the worry there, she was Ana's friend too.

"How is she?" I wondered how best to explain what I'd seen, then decided to give her a version of the truth.

"Honestly not good at all. Her partner's the most important thing in the world to her, with Natalie missing she's in a very bad place" I shook my head. "She's with the other three cops, the partners of the other abductees, they're all doing it tough" Mac nodded.

"I'll call her after we finish, not that there's much we can do, well except find the links inside the military, they might lead back to Natalie and the others" I nodded once, I recognised faint hopes as well as the next person as Mac tapped the sheet of paper I'd given her. "Dig into those four names Gunny, see if you can link them to still-serving members, especially anyone in the I-G's, if we find anyone, I'll take it to the head of I-G and call for an investigation"

"They won't like it" I said, Mac gave me a lopsided smile.

"Yeah, but someone has to do it and I'm the senior officer here"

"That could be a career-limiting move" I stated flatly, concerned, by which I meant potentially career-ending. I got a shrug.

"Ah well, Harm keeps offering me a job in private practice, says it pays more" I grimaced.

"Let's hope you don't have to find out"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Caine's viewpoint

I have to admit I'd wanted to see Johnson at work, she was supposed to be a former CIA interrogator back in the day, before she'd left the Agency to be a cop. Her team raved about her interrogations; they were apparently that good so now I was standing against one wall, Mac Taylor across the other side facing me as we waited for Cortez to be brought in. The other person in the room with the Chief was the head of the Tactical Response group, the local SWAT team, a Captain Peter Collins. He was a shorter guy but had that look that said he'd been there, done that and collected the t-shirts and scars to prove it. I don't know why he was here but I guessed that I'd find out soon enough. The door opened and I looked across as a whip-thin, dreadlocked and gang-tatted Latino, probably somewhere in his mid-thirties I guessed, was brought in.

"Mister Cortez, please have a seat" He looked around as the two uniformed police officers with him steered him into a seat as I noted he was cuffed. He looked round then looked back to the Chief.

"Who the fuck are you bitch?"

"I am Deputy Chief Johnson, these are my associates" She got right to the point. "You are here because I can charge you with criminal conspiracy to commit murder"

"I don't know what the fuck you talking about bitch, you been smacked round the head a few too many times maybe" Brenda was unmoved, no doubt being abused by the suspect was just a usual part of the job for her as well.

"You contracted to have an inmate named Ryerson killed by one of the PJ Crips currently in jail, Velez, specifically at the request of Justin Simmonds" Truculence seemed to be Cortez' go-to response.

"You got no idea what the fuck you talking 'bout and fuck you anyway" The Chief was unmoved.

"Let me explain your situation Mister Cortez, so you know why you should cooperate"

"Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen, you fucked up in the head bitch" The Chief leaned forward and tapped the file in front of her with her index finger in time with her words.

"We know you arranged the murder of Ryerson, So I've got you on that, your man on the inside, Velez, has already given you up" I could see Cortez' jaw working as he heard that, anger obvious.

"I don't know what the fuck you saying perras, but you got nothing"

"That would be where you are wrong Mister Cortez. I have you here, sitting across from me, with a choice to make" Cortez sat back in his seat and waved his cuffed hands around.

"I ain't gonna say anything, and where's my lawyer anyway? I don't got to say anything to you and you gotta have a lawyer here to talk to me"

"Sure, if I was going to charge you, but if we come to a deal you may not need one" I saw Cortex' eyes narrow even as he fell back on bluster.

"What the fuck you saying?"

"You help me out Mister Cortez and you walk out of here, no charges, no one the wiser"

"And if I don't bitch?"

"Captain Collins here is head of the Tactical Response team. Captain, would you be so kind as to explain what happens next" Collins, who had been sitting there doing a pretty good Mount Rushmore impersonation, looking at Cortez like the street filth he was, leaned forward.

"In less than half an hour, based on credible evidence that a member of the PJ Crips is wanted for accessory to murder, the LAPD will raid the headquarters of the PJ Crips" Collins looked at Cortez like he was less than trash. "Given the Crips reputation and their previous history of violence we will use an armoured vehicle to smash our way inside, then my team will storm the place, for the sake of your fellow Crips, I really hope no one pulls a gun, that would trigger our hostile situation protocol, meaning we'd have to assume all the Crips in there were hostile unless proved otherwise" He regarded Cortez with scorn. "You know where that's likely to end up"

"Fuck you!" Cortez shouted, going to stand and being pushed back into his seat by the uniformed officer behind him, drawing a smile from Collins.

"I don't think so" Brenda stepped back in.

"So Mister Cortez, you know where this leads, plus I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that a thorough search of the building will find drugs, illicitly obtained cash, weapons, some of them quite likely to be able to be tied to currently unsolved crimes…an absolute treasure trove of evidence that will see the PJ Crips spending the rest of the year in court before you all get sent to prison"

"Bull shit, there's nothing there you'd find, we're clean, ain't nothing there"

"Oh I'm certain evidence will be found, in fact I can pretty much guarantee it" Cortez took a few seconds to process that, the implicit threat, as his face reddened.

"Why the fuck are you doing this perras?" Brenda sat back as she made an off hand gesture.

"Because the man you dealt with, Justin Simmonds; has kidnapped four people, all of whom are family of law enforcement personnel, we want them back and for that we need to find Simmonds" She shrugged. "Your call" As Cortez hesitated she hit him again. "I will point out that I can make accessory after the fact kidnapping charges stick as well"

"Where's my lawyer? I know my rights; I don't have to talk to you" Brenda nodded agreeably.

"No you don't, but if you want to get a lawyer in here, then our little discussion all becomes totally official"

"So fucking what?" Cortez asked, he obviously wasn't all that quick on the uptake, making Brenda spell it out.

"So far this has been a polite chat, it gets written up that you came in to answer a few questions, we determined that you had no information of any value and you get dropped back right where we picked you up, no one mentions this any further " She smiled politely. "If however you don't cooperate then we get a lot less polite, that means charges get laid and we raid the Crip's places looking for evidence, no doubt finding all sorts of interesting stuff" she said as Collins smiled and spoke up in support.

"I guarantee it" Brenda nodded once.

"Or you can cooperate and you walk out of here a free man" Cortez immediately got a suspicious look on his face.

"Yeah, like that's going to happen"

"Mister Cortez, you misunderstand me" She tapped the table. "I do not want you, after all the person who died in prison was caught shooting up a hospital, an attack in which numerous patients, medical staff and police officers died. As I see it someone pre-empted the death sentence he was going to receive, saving the state the cost of a trial" She leaned forward and placed her clasped hands on the table. "Instead I want Justin Simmonds, he was the one behind the hospital attack, the attack on police, the bombing of the Sheraton and plenty more crimes besides" She smiled. "You give me the contact details for Simmonds, including the way he passed you the money, and you walk out of here, this didn't happen and no one will be the wiser"

"I don't snitch" Brenda tilted her head to regard Cortez and spoke; her tone dubious.

"Really Mister Cortez, is your friendship with Mister Simmonds that close that you will do jail time and your gang gets hammered by the LAPD, because we can make life for your people very, very hard"

"Yeah, like it isn't already" Brenda's smile was razor sharp, as was her voice.

"You have no idea of the pain I can bring down on you and yours Mister Cortez, especially when I tell the rank and file of the LAPD that the PJ Crips were involved with the man who has kidnapped the family of police officers" She looked at him, all sad, just for a moment even as I realised that it was an act, I was watching an actress at work. "That would have all sorts of unfortunate consequences for every PJ Crips member we can find"

"Starting with the ones in your crib when our vehicle smashes down the front door and my people storm the building" Collins checked his watch. "In about 27 minutes from now" He shrugged. "Up to you really"

Brenda took in Cortez' defiant look and tried again.

"Look Mister Cortez, you are someone who normally I would enjoy running in, but I have much bigger fish to fry, Simmonds. He is directly responsible for over a score of deaths in the last few weeks, plus the kidnapping of family members" She smiled. "Him versus your homies in the Crips, are you really that loyal to someone not wearing your colours?" Cortez shrugged.

"We served together, over in eye-rak" Brenda nodded.

"Marine Corps?"

"Semper Fi"

"Your loyalty to a fellow veteran is honourable Mister Cortez, but misplaced" She flipped open the folder and searched through it, then tossed a photo out onto the desk where it came to rest skewed off to one side, it was the plumber, John Phillips, dead on the floor of his workshop. "He as a veteran too, he helped Mister Simmonds carry out a drive-by on another witness, killing four people, by giving him the vehicle they used" Brenda shrugged. "It didn't stop Simmonds from killing him when we started investigating, killing off that loose end" Brenda smiled. "Not much solidarity there, plus you're now a loose end too"

I watched Cortez think that over for a few moments before truculence won over common sense.

"You're full of shit"

"No Mister Cortez, what I am trying to do is stop a killer" She shrugged. ""It's in your interests, given you might be one of his future victims"

"What the fuck?" Cortez scowled. "You're fucking nuts" Brenda just shook her head slowly.

"No Mister Cortez, I am simply aware of what Mister Simmonds has done" She sorted through photos before skidding one out onto the desk, the cleaner.

"This man helped Simmonds get access to a hotel where he set up a number of bombs. His thanks was to be knifed by Simmonds"

Another image was placed on the table.

"This was a survivor of the attack on Mercy General, paid for by Simmonds, when it went wrong, he escaped, only to be executed at close range by Simmonds for failure" Another image went down, a particularly nasty close up of the car the bookie and his people had been riding in. "The man in that vehicle had sold a marker to Simmonds, it cost him his life and that of three others" She flipped the folder closed. "And that's not even close to everyone he's recently killed here in LA. Is he really worth the misery about to land on the Crips and probably your life, really?"

"Simmonds wouldn't do that" Cortez stated, though not all that confidently.

"That's what they probably thought too, and look at them" She shrugged, then waved at the images. "You can, down in the morgue" She tipped her head to regard him. "I can arrange that if you'd like, see his handiwork up close an all"

It was that exact moment that Cortez folded.

"I didn't see him; he transferred the money directly into my account" The Chief was relentless.

"You have your phone Mister Cortez, get me the details now"

 **Washington DC FBI Headquarters Cyber Crimes Division**

Avery Brooks viewpoint

I walked down into the tank and headed towards where a couple of my team were talking around Krummitz' work station. They looked up as I arrived.

"We have a new account used by Simmonds, one that was active as of 48 hours ago" they nodded and I brandished my phone. "The LAPD have forwarded the details and I've just sent them to you, let's see what we can make of it" There were nods at that as they turned back to watch as Krummitz opened my email and got to work.

"Same bank as the previous ones" he noted.

"He can't have an unlimited number of accounts that he can use and discard at will, there has to be a limit" Nelson stated.

"You may be right, this one's active, there's almost twenty thousand in this one, plus it's been used for a number of transactions in the past few days"

"What sort of transactions?" Raven asked.

Dinner, gas purchase, a money transfer…whoa…twenty five thousand in fact, all of them out in LA" Krummitz said, I nodded.

"Tear that account apart, every single thing that it's been used for, the geo tags for every place it's been used to pay for anything, everything" They started nodding as I kept going. "I want you to look at any other accounts created at that bank that looks even close to the same pattern" I looked around them all. "Check every account, used or not, look for ones opened on the same day, or from the same place, anything that even looks like a pattern, when you find it sing out and we'll see what we can run down"

I got a range of nods, some a little more uncertain than others, after all I was turning them loose as black hat hackers, rummaging through that banks financial records. We were supposed to be the good guys, but in this case we had little choice. I knew that the info we found would never stand up in court, but this was about getting our people back, we'd worry about legalities once they were recovered safe and sound.

Until then, we had a job to do.

"Get moving people, the clock is running and we don't have that much time left"

 **Los Angeles Little Tokyo**

Liv's viewpoint

"That's him" Jane said as we watched two well-dressed Asian men in tailored suits exit a silver SUV and walk into Ryujo restaurant, apparently the "Prancing Dragon' was one of the better traditionally authentic Japanese restaurants in LA. As we watched five men who'd already got out of another SUV accompanied them inside, leaving the driver of the silver SUV sitting outside.

"I hope you're right and he'll talk to us" Kate said as I nodded.

"What makes you think he will talk anyway?" I asked. Jane shrugged.

"We did him a favour, though I doubt he sees it that way, so I'll have to remind him" I gave her a look, but she shrugged. "We'll see" I grimaced and glanced at Kate.

"Here's hoping" I looked between the three of them. You sure you don't want me in there with you?" They'd stated they wanted me outside the room; the guy they wanted to see usually took a private room; to ensure they weren't interrupted while talking to him. I got a head shake from Jane.

"Keep an eye out, make sure we're not disturbed" She looked to me and I saw the determination there. "If it does turn to shit, get the hell out of there and keep looking, okay"

"I'd rather be in there so it doesn't turn to shit in the first place" I said. Jane looked to Kate and Ana who looked back then looked to me and smiled before replying.

"Let's hope there's an outbreak of common sense then" Surprisingly it was Ana who spoke; she'd been almost withdrawn for the last few hours.

"And if there isn't, here's something to fix things" She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the grenade she'd confiscated from Saunders, holding it out to me. "If you have to, pull the pin, count to four and toss it in, then run like hell" She looked to me, no mirth there. "There'll be no one left to come after you, trust me" I looked at the dull green grenade, it seemed so small for so much apparent lethal potential, something I asked about as I took it.

"It'll do the job?" Ana nodded once.

"Yet another thing Hollywood got wrong, it'll shred everyone in a decent-size room down to raw meat and the shrapnel will go through anything less than a brick wall" She looked to me. "If you have to use it, throw it inside and then get the hell out of there, understand?" I nodded and put it in my jacket pocket.

"Here's hoping we don't need it"

"Amen sister" Kate said, then looked around. "Let's do this" We got out of the Tahoe and crossed the street, just four women walking somewhere, the Japanese guy in the SUV didn't give us a second look as we walked past and headed inside where the Asian waitress at the door turned to us and smiled.

"Can I help you?" Jane nodded politely.

"Konichiwa" She switched back to English. "We're meeting Mister Kurita for lunch; can you direct us to his room please?" The young woman's smile faltered, her eyes darting off to one side, almost a signpost as she stuttered.

"I am not sure…I mean..." I smiled, hopefully reassuringly as the others moved that way, even as I tried to settle her down.

"It's okay, thank you" Walking after them I saw Jane reach in, retrieving her new Glock and holding it down by her side where it wasn't visible, then look round.

"Let's get this over with"


	75. Chapter 75

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **75 Lunch with the Oyabun**

 **Los Angeles Pacoima**

Simmonds viewpoint

It was lunchtime and he'd worked up an appetite with a hard gym session this morning so now, after a shower back at the hotel, he'd decided to walk down the couple of blocks to a local restaurant that did awesome Tex-Mex. He'd just turned the corner and was half a dozen doors from the restaurant when he stopped dead. The guy he didn't recognise, but that hot blonde-haired piece of ass, oh yeah he remembered her all too well. He'd seen her twice now, the first time had been outside that bookie Kennett's place, getting into an unmarked cop car, the second she'd been at the hotel, pistol in hand during that fire fight. That had been a pretty hot image right there to be honest, he really liked hot woman who could handle themselves and that haughty-looking long-legged bitch sure fit the bill.

Now though she was walking into the same restaurant he was planning to, something he didn't believe for a second was a coincidence, making that a no-go area. Fortunately she hadn't looked his way and he was wearing his wrap-around Ray-Bans and a hoodie with the hood up, making him likely unrecognisable at this range. He watched as the older guy held the door for her and she turned a nice smile on him in thanks before they walked in. Taking a chance he kept walking on and pulled up near the door, ostensibly reading the menu taped up on the inside of the window but actually watching the cops inside.

They produced badges and after a quick conversation with the waitress an older guy came over to talk to the cops, there was a bit of back and forth before the cops pulled out an image and passed it across, getting a nod from the guy in return. That was enough for him; he turned and walked away, back the way he came, back towards his hotel, appetite forgotten, thinking furiously.

The cops were on to him here, they'd tracked him down somehow, after all that hot blonde bitch had crossed paths with him twice he knew of, that made her part of Johnson's team.

The only thing that made sense was that somehow they'd tracked down his credit card, the one he'd been using for incidental purchases like gas and food. Fortunately he'd not used it for his hotel otherwise he'd likely have had unwelcome visitors, so his OpSec was still holding up.

Still, the fact the local cops were getting closer gave him the creeps, they were fucking everywhere, relentlessly closing in. He smiled thinly to himself, it wasn't surprising he supposed, given he'd tried to blow holes in their deputy Chief and kidnapped a bunch of their colleagues; they were obviously mightily pissed at him.

The thought of his 'guests' made him frown, he still had around 36 hours of his deadline to go before he'd have to chop off that writer's hand, then mail it to the local CNN studio. Mind you that would make it midnight and he wasn't going to stay up to do it, so it could wait till the following morning. Hopefully seeing that writer's hand being chopped off on cable would show the cops that he wasn't dicking around. He'd already decided he'd do it with a decent sized hand axe, knock Castle unconscious so he wasn't moving, lay his arm out and one decent swing should do it. He'd have it filmed like the last time, to show the media and cops they were serious. He thought of bringing the timetable up a bit, make the cops react to him for a change, before he shook his head. No, it was better to stick to the timetable, changing from what he'd already told the cops he'd do would only make them less likely to trust anything else he'd said, making springing Danny just that little bit harder.

He'd stick to the timetable; make the cops think they had a shot at getting their people back. They wouldn't of course, Danny had been explicit about that, they had very different fates awaiting them, as did that lawyer, the one who'd taken over from Cabot, which reminded him, he needed some info. A quick phone call to his contact inside the LAPD and the promise of another thousand into his snitches' bank account and he ended the call, he'd soon have the info he needed to set in motion another operation, one that undermined the case against Danny while not messing up his 'swap' operation.

In the meantime he had some decisions to be made, should he move to a different motel? He was close enough that if the cops started canvasing the area the motel would probably fall inside the search area. He'd used a different credit card, one he'd have to abandon if he moved so that the cops couldn't trace it if they did find where he'd been staying.

That presented its own difficulties, he was down to only two spare identities, plus his emergency escape package, a virgin identity and access to enough money to get anywhere in the world and then vanish.

He'd never thought he'd need to use it but then he'd never come across cops as fucking persistent and annoying as this lot. Still, he wondered how they'd connected that credit card to him; he'd used it for mainly innocuous stuff…

"Oh fuck" he muttered to himself, stopping dead, Cortez must have given him up. He'd used that account to transfer money to him to pay for his guy on the inside to get rid of Ryerson. Somehow the cops had run Cortez down and he'd spilled his guts. Simmonds jaw tightened; he'd take care of Cortez personally, no one ratted him out and lived. With effort he shook his head and resumed walking back to the motel, that was in the future, this was now and he had decisions to make.

He had to find a new place to stay.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Horatio Caine's viewpoint

The FedEx van used in the kidnapping had been released to the company after repeated forensics sweeps had pronounced it clean. Parked out in the impound yard the company had sent over the van's usual driver who'd attempted to drive it away, only to discover his key didn't work, it didn't fit. He'd complained to the head of the impound yard who'd looked into it, discovering that the key lock barrel in the steering column had been swapped out for a new one.

The Sergeant down there had called us immediately, alerting us to the swap, I'd headed down there with Hoyt and arrived in time to find the head of impound, Sergeant Burlon, carefully removing the key barrel assembly from under the steering wheel. He'd looked up at us and nodded.

"Saved you some time lieutenant, this is a genuine part, not an aftermarket part" He turned it over in his rubber-gloved hands and indicated a little plate attached to the barrel. "It's got a serial number so you should be able to track it down" I nodded to the burly Sergeant.

"We're grateful for your help on this Sergeant" He slipped it into an evidence bag and handed it over.

"I heard this was the van that they used to grab our people, so I knew I should call it in to you guys immediately" I nodded and smiled, grateful for the cooperation.

"We really appreciate it, we'll run it through forensics at the same time we chase up the serial number" He nodded as he replied.

"Let's hope you find something" I returned his nod as Woody Hoyt spoke up.

"Right now we'll take any leads we can get" I backed him up.

"Let's get this to forensics"

Ten minutes later I watched as probably the world's most top-heavy forensics team examined the key barrel, Jo Danville from New York was the one actually checking for prints, being 'supervised' by four Crime Lab heads, Brennan, Langstrom, Murphy and I. To her credit she didn't bat an eyelid at the scrutiny, instead doing the work as smoothly as any of us could have.

Hoyt was already upstairs chasing down the serial number and briefing in the Chief as we watched Jo look up and smile happily.

"Multiple prints, both thumbs, four or five fingers and a palm print" There were careful nods around the table as we watched her lift the prints, get them set up and prepare them for scanning. She then looked round and pointed out it would take at least twenty minutes before the cross matching database started showing results, so instead of hanging round cluttering up 'her' lab, we could come back after getting a coffee, and getting her one too, making us smile slightly at the bossy 'experienced supervisor' tone.

Twenty minutes later, standing around sipping our coffees, we stared at the machine, willing it to start doing something, which, ignoring foolish human notions of urgency, it didn't. Jo had just checked her phone and looked up.

"Any moment now" Five seconds later the machine dinged, drawing head shakes and smiles from everyone as she leaned over and hit a button, printing out the results.

"Kim Joon Park, better known as Ken Park" She ran her eyes down the page. "Korean-American, lots of minor charges, including repeated vehicular theft charges, he's apparently a fixer, he supplies vehicles to others" There were satisfied smiles all round before I reached for the sheets.

"Great work, now we need to get the team onto this Park guy"

 **Los Angeles Little Tokyo Ryujo Restaurant**

Minoru Kurita's viewpoint

The Oyabun of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest Yakuza family on the West Coast, was having a good day. Sitting in the private dining room of his favourite Japanese restaurant enjoying superlative food with his Wakagashira, Shunji Isaki and several of his top lieutenants as they reported on the organisation's latest successes; Minoru Kurita was pleased to see the organisation's reach was expanding.

The destruction of the rival Inagawa-kaï following the arrest of its leadership by that Johnson woman had allowed him to expand the Yamaguchi-gumi's influence and power to even greater heights.

Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by one of my men backing into our private room unannounced, a breach of etiquette that I found odd, Irie was usually a notorious stickler for protocol and tradition. The reason was suddenly apparent as I saw a woman backing him into the room with a pistol held to his forehead. The men around me started to surge to their feet but I stopped them at a word, one hand waving them back to their seats, I vaguely remembered this woman from somewhere and if she was here to commit suicide…well she could have walked in and shot them or I without notice.

The woman nodded once, reaching in and retrieving Irie's pistol from under his coat before brusquely pushing him into a vacated seat, then turned to face me. Two more women followed the first into the room, one as tall as the first with long blonde hair, the other shorter with jet black hair, they fanned out to each side of the door, obviously covering the room as the first woman waved the hand holding Irie's pistol, motioning for two of my men to move out of the way. The woman holstered her Glock then reached out and took a seat, sliding it back and being seated, then extracted the magazine from Irie's weapon and racked the action to eject the round in the chamber before placing the magazine and pistol on the table then looked at me.

"Sorry for the intrusion but we need to talk" she stated as I stared the woman down, narrowing my eyes at her cavalier tone, seeing the confidence in her eyes.

"Who are you and why would I want to talk to you?" The woman was both unimpressed and unrepentant.

"You might remember me, the last time we crossed paths you were sitting down with two women in Kagaya over lunch, talking about a series of home invasions" I nodded, I remembered the woman now, she had been there with Johnson. "As to why you want to talk to me, well I need a favour and now I'm asking for it" I tensed a little, even as I took in her companions, both were covering the room with their eyes, no weapons in their hands but I could tell from their stance that they were indeed armed and more than confident of their abilities. Buying time to learn more from the woman sitting across from me I temporised.

"And why should I grant your request?" The dark-haired woman shrugged before answering.

"As I see it there's a couple of reasons, firstly we personally took down your major competition and I reckon that buys us a favour" She glanced round the table, taking in everyone else then looking back at me. "Secondly I'm desperate and I need your help so I'm here asking" Interesting, that was not an answer I had expected. Seeking to regain control of the discussion I 'cut to the chase' as the Americans so often put it.

"What is it you want?" She didn't smile, her attention on me, though I noticed the eyes of the two women at the doorway were never still, a counterpoint to their hands, which remained motionless near each woman's hip, both were obviously on a hair trigger. The woman sitting in front of me spoke, her voice even.

"A group of individuals have been kidnapped by a criminal organisation that engages in trans-continental kidnapping and sex slave trafficking. We are investigating their actions and have had some successes in hurting their business, capturing their leader; in response they kidnapped four people that are important to us, hoping to trade them for him. One of the people taken was Maura Isles, you may remember her from your lunch" I nodded, I indeed remembered the woman, blonde, attractive, she spoke good Japanese and had been excellent company.

"I recall her" The other woman nodded once and continued.

"Well she was taken, as were three other people, a District Attorney, Alex Cabot, the LAPDs media person Natalie Dearing and the author Richard Castle" I sat still and regarded her, even as she stared back at me, prompting me to ask

"Yes?" The woman's voice was calm, but I could see something in her eyes.

"Those four people are important to us, very important to us, so I'd like your help in finding them" I gazed at her, keeping my face very still, that was not what I had expected, at all. Finally I spoke, seeking to draw her out.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because if anything happens to them, we will make sure that every last one of the people who took them is dead" I realised the woman was not bluffing, she meant every word. "And then there'll be a reckoning with those people who could have helped us but didn't" I frowned, I dislike ultimatums, even implied ones, especially from gaijin, I felt my mouth turn down in anger.

"I do not react well to threats" The woman shrugged, obviously unconcerned, either fearless or perhaps with little left to loose.

"Neither do we so this isn't a threat, it's a statement of fact" she stated. "Turn your resources to helping us and we remove yet another of your competitors, otherwise when this is all over there'll be a reckoning" I shook my head once before replying flatly.

"I think not, the Yamaguchi-gumi does not answer to you" Before the woman in front of me could speak, the dark-haired woman behind her spoke, her voice flat and cold.

"It won't be answering to you either. Remember that laser targeter on your friend's chest last time we met?" She glanced at Isaki sitting next to me who had suddenly stilled; he remembered that red dot and all it had represented as it lay centred over his heart, as did I. "That was me" she continued, no emotion in her voice. "Next time there won't be any warning; the first notice will be when a bullet takes your head off" I looked into her eyes and realised I was looking into the eyes of death; there was no trace of warmth or an emotion in those eyes, only resolve. This woman would kill me through the sights of a rifle or with her bare hands, equally willingly and without a qualm. The woman sitting in front of me glanced over her shoulder at the shorter woman then back at me.

"We don't want to make threats and we'd prefer you to assist us without them, but we're kinda desperate here" I turned my attention back on her and sought more information.

"Why come to me, surely the police have far greater resources?" She gave a half shrug, a wealth of information in the gesture, it matched her words.

"We're acting on our own now, the people taken are very, very important to us" She grimaced then continued. "So they pulled us off the case, something about having no objectivity, so that means were free agents now" She forced a smile, so false it was obviously a pro-forma gesture, and then continued. "It means we don't have the LAPDs resources, but on the other hand we're not constrained by their rules either" I nodded slowly as I considered the implications.

I suddenly recalled that I had seen this woman and her dark-haired companion before; they had been in a convoy of vehicles ambushed by a street gang in retaliation for losses the police had caused them. I well-remembered phone camera footage on the news networks showing both of them killing their attackers quickly and coldly. The shorter woman had charged her attacker, killing him with two shots, one to the stomach, the second a deliberate shot to the head, while the seated one had coolly stood there in the middle of a fire fight and then blown the head off one of their assailants. I took in the third woman, I did not recognise her, but the look in her eyes was the match to her associates, a quietly dangerous and desperate woman who was intimately familiar with death and willing to do whatever was required to retrieve her friends.

If they were unleashed…I corrected myself; they had already been unleashed; the police had foolishly cut them loose, it was simply a matter of what they would do and to whom. Looking at them, seeing the look in their eyes and the set of their faces I felt a tiny shiver of dread. I was familiar with the faces of killers, all the Yakuza had such men, including the Yamaguchi-gumi; they were not to be trifled with at the best of times, which these were most surely not.

Taking in these three women I saw the same look in their countenance; they were death incarnate awaiting a chance to be unleashed and lash out, leaving me to conclude then and there that I did not want their antipathy directed at either myself or the Yamaguchi-gumi; yes they would surely die but the 'collateral damage' as the Americans liked to describe it, would be immense. That said there was no way I would, or could simply acquiesce to their demands, instead bargaining to save face with my subordinates.

"What would I get in return for the immeasurable assistance of the Yamaguchi-gumi?" The seated woman smiled again though there was no humour there; rather it looked like she was simply going through the motions.

"We take down another criminal enterprise that competes with you" I was about to reply when the shorter woman spoke.

"Plus you stay alive" The blonde woman standing by the door spoke up for the first time.

"Let's try and all stay friends here" She looked from the dark-haired woman to me and continued. "You would have our gratitude" Isaki stepped into the conversation, having been quiet so far.

"What makes you think you would walk out of here alive after threatening us?" The woman seated shrugged.

"We have an associate standing right outside this door, at the first sound of gunshots, they'll toss a live grenade in here, we'll all end up as bloody paste on the walls" I considered her words as Isaki sneered at her, happy for him to attract their ire as I weighed their words, their demeanor and their request.

"We do not need guns to take you down" The seated woman turned her head to face Isaki and looked him over, slowly and insolently before she replied, her voice confident.

"My hostile friend at the door and I took down the Inagawa's enforcer Homoru" Her eyes narrowed. "We were unarmed and he had his knives but we tore him apart and left him a broken wreck. Think about that for a moment" At that statement I remained impassive but considered her words. That hulking brute Homoru was well known, indeed renowned, for both his undoubted skill with his knives and his careless attitude to killing. If they had indeed taken him down unarmed and given the woman's demeanour I did not believe she was lying, plus it aligned with rumours that Homoru had ended up in a prison hospital following his arrest; they were even more formidable than I had first deduced.

"You are bluffing" Isaki stated. The seated dark-haired woman ignored him and turned back to take me in, taking my measure for a moment; I could see her thinking, considering; finally she shrugged and called out.

"Liv, we need a demonstration of good faith" There was silence for a moment before another woman appeared in the doorway, short dark hair, powerful build, attractive like the others but what immediately captured my attention was the dull green shape in her hand.

"You mean this?" She held it up between thumb and forefinger, making it easy to recognise. "And before anyone tries to be a hero..." She held up her other hand, a small metal ring and spike held in her fingers. "Yes, this is the pin to that grenade and yes, if I let go everyone here dies" There was an immediate ripple of fear through my people, glances shared back and forward and people stepping back as they realised what it was. She smiled however like her companions there was no humour there. "What's it gonna be, do you help us or do we all go together" Isaki had recovered enough to speak.

"You are bluffing, you would not want to die" The woman with the grenade shrugged, obviously unconcerned by the threat.

"You appear to have mistaken me for someone who actually has a choice here" The woman sitting down hadn't even turned to look, instead focusing on me, she spoke up.

"We need your help, with it, we have a chance of finding our people, without it probably not, and so if you refuse to help us, what have we got to lose really?" She stared at me as I saw utter conviction there; this woman would do whatever she had to, including die, to succeed. "What's it gonna be?" I frowned and asked the question I realised I should have asked first.

"Why do you need our help?" She pulled a face and spoke.

"The lead we have to the people who did this has disappeared into the local Japanese community, he's Japanese, more, one of your Yakuza members, so he blends in and apparently he's found himself a deep dark hole to hide in" She inclined her head my way. "This is your turf, he is one of yours and hence we came to you to ask for your help"

"Who is this man you seek?" She carefully reached inside her jacket and withdrew a card, placing it on the table and sliding it towards me as I saw it had a name written on it in English.

"Tomo Inashi, he's apparently one of your junior members, he works as a low-level fixer, supplying cars, cell phones, weapons, safe houses, anything required, for a price" I knew of Inashi, indeed he was low-level, a shatei, he had been with us for about five years as I recalled. "He's gone to ground in or around Gardena" I nodded slowly; the Yamaguchi-gumi had many such safe houses in Gardena.

"And you want the Yamaguchi-gumi to deliver this Inashi to you?" I shook my head. "Such is not our way" The woman in front of me shook her head once.

"No, all we ask is that you pass his location on to us" She pushed a plain card with a hand written cell phone number on it across the table to end up sitting next to the first. "We will do the rest" She looked across at me and shrugged. "We have no quarrel with him or you, we just want the name and contact details of the person he supplied and we'll be on our way"

I regarded her levelly for a moment, seeing her meet my eyes unflinchingly.

"And for this you will owe the Yamaguchi-gumi a favour" I stated. She tilted her head to me as she replied.

"Nothing too illegal, we won't destroy evidence or remove people for you, but you can ask us for a favour and we will do our level best to assist you" I nodded as I glanced at her, then her three companions, taking their measure.

I now recognised the seated woman as a LAPD detective, a decorated one from Boston, while the two dark-haired ones by the door; one was a detective, the other a FBI agent. They were police, good ones apparently, given the reports of the attempts on their life and the subsequent trial of their attackers and the corrupt police behind them. Such people understood honour and obligation. The blonde woman seemed of a similar cast, both honourable and desperate. They would stand by their agreement, while they would not break the law for me, their word was their bond; given they held themselves to a code, much as the ancient samurai once had. I nodded once, they were now masterless, ronin, acting on their own but willing to die for what they felt was necessary.

With that my decision was made, the path before me clear.

"I give no guarantees but I will call you if we find him" The woman nodded once as I saw the woman with the grenade nod and then replace the pin in the grenade, reducing the tension in the room significantly. "That is all we can ask for" The dark haired woman seated opposite me said as the other three women nodded and the blonde spoke again.

"Thank you" The first pushed her chair back and stood up, inclining her head to me in polite courtesy, for a gaijin.

"I believe the correct word here is Arigato. I look forward to your call, the hostage's lives are on a timer so as soon as possible please" She turned and walked out, followed by the other two. The black-haired woman who had promised to blow our heads off looked from me to Isaki and back again and smiled coldly, then turned and exited. I saw a slight drop in the tension in the room as Isaki looked at me, his voice full of outrage.

"We help them, after their disrespect?" I shook my head.

"There was no disrespect there" At his look of disbelief I explained. "They acknowledged our control over the local Japanese community and over Inashi in particular and thus came to us. While they were blunt, as most Americans are, they were generally polite as they could be, given their somewhat desperate circumstances"

"But to help them..." I cut him off.

"I will help them in as much as it benefits the Yamaguchi-gumi, if helping them opens opportunities for our expansion at the expense of another, plus buys us a favour from four obviously experienced and capable police officers, then it is a bargain I will make" I could tell Isaki was not convinced.

"But the way they demanded our help...it was unseemly and rude" I waved that away.

"Perhaps, but they were desperate and desperate people do desperate things" I lowered my voice and continued. "I for one wish to continue to live and see the Yamaguchi-gumi continue to prosper" I closed my eyes for a second, imagining the carnage if they came after us. "Something that would not happen if those four came after us"

"They would die" At his words I looked to him.

"Yes, but at what price?" I frowned. "They knew exactly where to come to find us, that woman could have tossed that grenade in and killed us all as easily as breathing" I shook my head. "No, better to send them in another direction and await their response, we can move in after they have laid waste to their targets and perhaps expand our operations at their target's expense" Isaki wasn't satisfied.

"But their insolence..."

I frowned, Shunji was not seeing the bigger picture here, too wedded to the old ways, right then and there I decided he was not suitable to ascend to the role of Oyabun in turn; I would need to start grooming another to succeed me.

"We are in a new world Shunji, one that needs new ways of doing things" I looked him straight in the eye. "We hold to our traditions, they make us what we are, but adapt to new challenges this world brings us" I smiled. "Like the bamboo, we bend to the breeze but do not break, instead we are resilient and we survive" He nodded, responding with the old words.

"We will survive, and prosper" I nodded.

"Exactly"

Oyabun = Head of a Yakuza organisation

Wakagashira = Second in Command

Shatei = Little brother, lowest level ranking for Yakuza members

Arigato = Thank you


	76. Chapter 76

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **76 More bad news**

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Jane's viewpoint

We were back sitting round in the lounge room of Liv's place after our little run-in with Kurita; discussing the likelihood of the Yakuza helping us when my phone rang, the Lone Ranger theme telling me it was Mendoza.

" _Jane, its Mikki_ " I frowned, wondering why she was calling us when Pope had made it so clear we'd been excommunicated.

"Hi Mikki, what's up?" I saw Liv and Kate's heads turn at that.

" _Got someone who wants to talk to you, says it's urgent_ " I nodded unconsciously.

'Who wants to talk?"

" _Irene Simms, Wynter's lawyer_ " I couldn't keep the shock out of my voice.

"You're shitting me right?" I saw the other's share surprised and apprehensive looks around at my response.

" _No, she contacted Andrea and asked for a contact for you, Ana or Liv, apparently she wanted it kept off the books, on the real down low, Andrea says she sounded scared_ " I thought about it for all of two seconds, it couldn't hurt.

"What's her number?"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Andy Flynn's viewpoint

I ended the call and grimaced, seeing Calleigh and the FBI guy, Booth, look my way with questioning looks, prompting me to explain.

"The Crips' guy who gave us Simmonds' details, he just turned up dead" Both their faces tightened and Calleigh nodded as I stood and walked over to the Chief's office, she was engrossed in the paperwork on her desk as I knocked on the door jamb and spoke.

"Chief, got some bad news" She looked up, taking me in and fell back in her chair, pulling her glasses off and tossing them onto the opened file.

"Don't s'pose I'd get some good news for once?" I shook my head ruefully.

"Not on this case Chief, sorry" She nodded.

"What do we have?" I took a few steps inside and explained.

"That PJ Crips' guy, a sniper took the top of his head off this afternoon, about an hour ago, blew his brains out right as he was walking up to the door of the Crips' crib" Her response wasn't unexpected.

"Simmonds?" I nodded grimly.

"Likely" We'd chased down the places Simmonds had used that credit card, the restaurant owner recognised his image and a canvas of the area had turned up a motel a few blocks away where he'd been staying, but he'd checked out two hours earlier. "I figure he saw the canvas and bugged out, then put two and two together and worked out where our lead had come from" The Chief nodded.

"That makes sense" She squeezed the bridge of her nose between her fingers, eyes shut, for a few seconds, then let her hand drop, her eyes opening to look at me. "I am getting so very tired of Mister Simmonds and his ability to strike with impunity and then vanish once again" I shook my head, the guy was a damned ghost, slipping between our fingers like smoke.

"You, me and all of us Chief" She nodded slowly.

"Can you arrange for the victim's body to be transported into Doctor Brennan's care, perhaps our all-star forensics team can turn up something"

"You got it Chief"

 **Los Angeles Beverly Hills Aphrodite Ladies Wellness Centre**

Jane's viewpoint

A little over an hour later the four of us were at a woman's-only spa downtown, sitting in a sauna wrapped in towels as we met with Simms; apparently she was terrified of being followed by a guy so she'd come to one place where a guy couldn't intrude. We sat facing her as she kicked us off.

"Thank you for seeing me, I need your help" I kept my face impassive at that, seeing the others do the same before Kate spoke.

"We're here now, so go on" Simms pulled a face then started.

"I want you to know I didn't ask for this case, I was assigned this case by my firm's senior partner" She shook her head. "I'm one of their better defence lawyers for criminal cases; I didn't know what the charges were or what he'd done until after I'd been assigned the case. I sure as hell didn't seek it out, now though I'm trapped" I frowned.

"Trapped, how so?" Simms looked at me and shook her head.

"Wynter's explained that he's aware that he cannot go to trial" She was certain. "We both know he'll lose and lose big, the evidence is way too strong for any chance of a win and everyone knows it, including him" she shook her head then continued. "He was a flight risk even before the attempt to free him at the hospital so he's never going to get bail; the only place he's going is prison, probably for life given the Special Circumstances aspects. When I first met him I thought he was guilty, but after the kidnappings I was told my job's to stall long enough for the state to release him in exchange for the hostages" Kate spoke up.

"That's not going to happen, everyone knows that the government doesn't negotiate with kidnappers" Simms nodded.

"I know that and you know that but Wynter is banking on the government caving when they start sending body parts from the kidnapped women, along with video, to the news stations" She shuddered. "He's already told them that if that's what it takes then they should do it" I looked up, surprised and suspicious.

"How do you know that?"

"Wynter's told me that my job's to carry messages back and forward, well that and to delay the case as much as possible" There was another round of looks passed around before Liv spoke.

"Go on"

"In my role as his attorney, I've been asked to convey messages between Wynter and his associates" I nodded at her words, that was pretty standard, what followed wasn't. "Wynter dictates his messages into a phone and then I pass them on as an attachment to a text message to a phone number I was given" She looked at each of us then pushed on. "The message must be sent between 5 and 5.15 each afternoon, I was told the other phone will be turned off except during those times. In turn I receive messages back between 8 and 8.15 each morning" We shared glances back and forth before Kate prompted her to continue.

"Go on please"

"Yesterday afternoon Wynter dictated a message that I've saved. Well…you have to hear it" She pulled out a cell and after hitting a few buttons let it play, the male voice easily heard from the speaker. It consisted of Wynter giving instructions, mostly about money and arrangements for his release once the authorities caved and let him go, he was going to leave the country, taking his money and vanishing somewhere without an extradition treaty, he'd mentioned Venezuela. None of us though were ready for how he wrapped up.

" _Once I've been released, dispose of the hostages. If the women are still intact contact the Italian, he has contacts throughout the Middle East and Africa and two beautiful blonde American's should fetch outstanding prices from his customers, make sure you get top dollar and take fifty per cent yourself, call it a finder's fee. As for the lawyer, she should be sold to the Ochoa Cartel, they'll pay well to get their hands on Cabot, they have an old score to settle with her and they won't care if she's already missing a few pieces, they'll still be able to get their revenge on what's left. As for the writer, he should be disposed of and make sure the body's destroyed, that way there'll be no traces or leads left"_

Simms shut it off as I saw Kate's jaw clench, the fury in her eyes visible but under brutally tight check, waiting for a chance to be let loose, god knows the rest of us felt the same. The room was deadly silent for a few seconds before I managed to get myself under enough control to speak. Finally I looked at Simms and asked the inevitable question.

"Why come to us. Why not go to the police or your bosses with this?" Simms shrugged helplessly then explained.

"Because of client-lawyer confidentiality, if I was to talk to the police I could potentially be struck off the register, I'd certainly lose my job and given why would probably never work again" She shook her head; "Same with my bosses, they'd kick me to the curb in an instant, probably with a side serving of a lawsuit as well" she said, looking around at us. "I could handle that, maybe, that's not the reason I'm here though" Liv made a coaxing gesture and spoke.

"What is?" Simms pulled a face then sighed, seeming to deflate a bit.

"Not long after I was assigned the case ago a man came to my house, he talked to my maid Herminia and my kids, told them he had a message for me. I got home soon after and he told me that his job was to remind me that I worked for Wynter and that if I didn't do exactly as I was told, he knew where I lived" We exchanged glances as Kate took up the questioning.

"Tell me about the man"

"A big black man, very tall, very strong, rather handsome and well spoken, wearing slacks, a polo shirt and a sports coat, all looked very good quality, new, maybe tailored or just expensive" Simms shrugged. "He looked like he was on his way to the country club, he didn't actually threaten me, in fact he was quiet and very polite, didn't actually say all that much, but he knew where I lived, who my children were, he named both of them and which schools they went to" I grimaced, she was being sent a message and the messenger, well that sure sounded like a description of Simmonds. Simms looked around the four of us and shook her head. "I cannot risk anything happening to my children, since my husband died, Amelia and Gerard are all I have" She shrugged at our looks. "Grant died in a car accident three years ago, now all I have are my kids, if I say anything…" I nodded slowly, understanding the risks Simms was taking in coming to us.

"Not to mention that if Wynter gets away with this, you're a loose end, you know about his involvement in the kidnapping" At my comment Simms nodded.

"Exactly, it looks like I'm dead if he gets away with this, and probably dead if he doesn't. I can't talk to anyone about this, especially not the police, but I had to talk to someone, so I came to you"

"Why us exactly?" At Liv's question she looked away for a moment, then back.

"Because you're not the police, well not anymore, the news of what happened to you and your partners has spread quickly, plus you have a personal stake in this, the same as I now do" She looked from one to the other of us. "Hopefully any information I pass to you will help you, you can pass it on the quiet to the investigating officers and keep my involvement out of it" I was about to say something when she shut me up. "And if anything happens to me, you can make sure my kids are protected and looked after" Liv frowned at that.

"Why us" You don't know us at all" Simms shook her head and replied.

"That's where you're wrong, I've looked into you and you're all wealthy enough to look after a couple of orphans" Shocked, I sat back a little at that, even as she looked around the room at us and continued. "My parents are dead, so are Grant's, so I've already sent my kids to stay with my elderly grandmother in San Francisco for the moment but if something happens to me I want you to make sure they're looked after" Ana was the one who spoke, her voice flat.

"Why us?"

"Because you're victims of Wynter, just as much as I am, he's kidnapped people important to you and now you know what he plans for your partners, do you honestly think he's going to stop there?" I frowned, she had a point.

"I understand, thank you for this" Simms looked at me.

"And my kids?" I looked at the others and we exchanged nods before I looked back at Simms.

"They'll be looked after, no matter what" At that Simms looked away for a few seconds as her shoulders slumped. We exchanged looks as I realised she was fighting tears. Finally she looked back at us, the anguish there all too visible.

"Oh god, thank you, thank you all"

After she left we sat there for a while, making sure anyone tailing her would be long gone, just in case. We were being paranoid but with good reason; maybe the LAPD wasn't keeping tabs on us, but sure as hell the Cabal knew who we were and they just might be

Given the stakes, we couldn't risk it, better safe than sorry.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Morgue**

Brenda's viewpoint

I was getting a report from the forensics people about our dead Crips leader.

"We recovered the bullet that struck the victim, the steel-jacketed shell went through the victim's cranium and impacted against the adjacent brick wall" Temperance Brennan stated. "The impact substantially deformed the shell, making it unlikely that we will recover much in the way of ballistics evidence linking it to a specific weapon" I nodded, impact with hard brick walls tended to do that.

"I understand Doctor, what can you tell me of the weapon?" Brennan indicated Cortez' body lying on the table between us, the majority of the top of his head missing, making for a very messy sight.

"Almost certainly an M4, the 5.56mm projectile recovered at the scene is the same type and composition as that used in the attacks on Mercy General Hospital and in the motel attack" I nodded slowly.

"It makes sense, we know they have access to M4s and at the range we were talking about, it's more than accurate enough" Brennan nodded.

"Exactly so" She indicated the entry wound. "The bullet entered just above the right temporal lobe and passing through the cranium, exited just below the left ear…" She looked up. "I understand from Doctor Hunt's on-scene report that the shot was taken from a nearby rooftop?" I nodded.

"140 yards away, on the third floor roof, Lieutenant Taylor says that's more than close enough that someone with a properly-braced M4 and a reasonable skill with the weapon wouldn't miss"

"Something that the suspect, Justin Simmonds, possesses" Surprised, I looked her way and she favoured me with a small smile. "I took the time to read Simmonds' file, he seems to have been a capable soldier, well-trained and experienced, and he has certainly demonstrated both initiative and daring in his actions here"

"You're not wrong there" I shook my head. "With what appears to be a nasty streak of vindictiveness, I mean killing Cortez here didn't help us or make him any more safe" She nodded.

"His military service file did hint towards a growing callousness towards those he regarded as the enemy, which I surmise he came to feel was anyone not directly part of his unit" Brennan shrugged. "Perhaps Simmonds perceived Cortez as a traitor, one who had betrayed his confidence and trust and thus was worthy only of execution" I grimaced then replied.

"He certainly moved fast enough, he killed Cortez less than 24 hours after we started looking for him, based on the information Cortez had given" Temperance nodded slowly then looked up at me.

"Such a mind-set suggests a number of psychological maladies; extrapolating from the Marine Corps psychological evaluation and the report from the Bureau's Behavioral Assessment Unit , together with what we have surmised about his operations with the Cabal and observed here in Los Angeles, it suggests he will not hesitate to carry out his threatened actions towards his hostages" She paused, then continued. "Given his psychology, should he be cornered, he will likely react in the most violent manner possible to ensure his continued freedom, considering he has nothing left to lose" I nodded slowly.

"Worth remembering, but we have to find him first"

 **Los Angeles Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office**

Mikki's viewpoint

It had been a long day, I'd spent a couple of hours watching quietly as Andrea talked to Irene Simms, Wynter's lawyer, though to my eyes it looked like she was just going through the motions, not that she had all that much to offer, Wynter wasn't interested in a deal, quite obviously he expected to be freed soon, the cocky son of a bitch. Something that Andrea had confirmed after the meeting.

"She's stalling, probably been directed to by Wynter, but we both know Wynter's guilty as sin and looking at 25 to life minimum" I nodded, wondering about it as well, Wynter was probably hoping the LAPD would cave and trade him for the hostages, if so he was wrong.

I could understand why Simms was doing it though, Jane and the others hadn't told me what they'd learned from talking to her but I could imagine, especially as Andrea had said she had seemed scared, confirming something I'd also picked up.

The rest of the afternoon was uninteresting for which I was grateful, acting as Andrea's protection detail was important, keeping her safe was paramount but so far it had been boring, for which I suppose I should be thankful. Amy and I had taken turns, one of us with Andrea wherever she went, even into the ladies, the other prowling the floor, checking on everything. Once it had been explained by Annesley via an email to everyone why we were here people had settled down, with what had happened to Alex fresh in everyone's memory no one would dare argue with having us around.

Finally the day had wound down and we bailed, heading out, tonight we'd stay at Amy's place; we were staying somewhere different each night, interspersed with hotels just in case. It was a pain but better safe than sorry. It just meant we'd be a little more cramped than usual as she only had a double bed, not a queen like me or a king-sized like Andrea. Ah well, it just meant we snuggled a little closer is all.

Exiting the elevator from the office we headed down into the parking garage with Andrea, I walked a little ahead as Amy brought up the rear, sweeping behind us as I cleared ahead. My eyes glanced around the garage, taking everything in then paused as I spotted a nondescript white van parked further down the garage; it looked old, grungy and really out of place in the area restricted to employees of the District Attorney's office. Amongst the lawyer's Mercedes, BMWs and Audi's and the admin people's Kia's, Toyota's and Fords it stood out like a sore thumb.

Something about it jogged a memory, for a second I frantically dredged then remembered the dead bookie, Kennett, the van that had hosed him with a machine gun had been a grungy white van with painted over logos, just like that one. I was already starting to turn to alert Amy and move Andrea out of the way when the door slid back and a massive muzzle flash lit up the garage.

I was already turning so I just kept going, slamming into Andrea and wrapping my arms around her as my momentum carried us crashing to the ground, I vaguely heard her scream of shock and fright but I was too busy rolling us behind cover, even as the deafening roar of the machine gun filled the space. I could hear the sound of huge, angry hornets and tearing metal as the bullets tracked across and down the side of the nearest car and towards us so I kept us rolling, only stopping when we were behind the first car, seeing it shake as bullets hit it, I was about to say something when I saw holes appearing on our side, the damned bullets were going right through it!

Without thinking I grabbed Andrea's jacket and dragged her behind me as I scrabbled behind another car, seeking some kind of shelter, this one too was shaking as bullets hit it, but none were appearing on this side, well except for the shower of glass where bullets were passing through the windows unimpeded.

I let go of Andrea's jacket and pulled her close, seeing the fear in her wild, wide eyes, not that I blamed her, I was pretty damned scared too.

"Andrea" I tried, getting no response. "Andrea!" She was still unresponsive. " **Andie!** " Her eyes at last focused on me as I spoke rapidly. "Crawl that way, stay low and keep moving, get to the far end ramp, get out of sight and run like hell, get back to your office and get help" She nodded then shook her head.

"What about you?" She looked around. "Where's Amy? Oh god where is she?" I shook my head, lying through my teeth. "She's fine, she was out of the line of fire, she's probably taking cover like we are" I pointed the other way. "Get moving"

"What about you?" I shook my head and turned back towards the sound of the machine gun, then looked back at her.

"I'll be covering you, now go" She reached for me.

"I don't want to leave you here" I shook my head again as I brushed her hand away, I needed her safe, somewhere far from here.

"Andie, they're probably Wynter's guys and they're here to kill you, they don't care about us, they want you, so for fucks sake go!" She nodded tearfully and went to turn, then turned back.

"My phone, it's in my bag…" I gestured back the way we'd came with my thumb as the gunfire stopped.

"It's out there, where we can't get it" I reached round and grabbed for mine, it wasn't there either; it'd probably fallen out when we'd tumbled to the ground. "Mine's lost, get the hell out of here, get back to the office and ring Brenda, okay, can you do that?" She nodded jerkily and I forced out a smile, god knows what it looked like. "Go Andie, I'll keep them distracted, as soon as they realise you're gone they'll probably bug out" I pointed towards the far end of the car park. "Now get going, and stay in cover" I gave her a little shove to get her moving and then rolled flat, peering carefully under the car I was sheltering against, then glanced back to see Andrea on her hands and knees frantically scurrying away, drawing a tight smile ' _good girl_ '.

I looked back, not hearing anything and not able to see the van from this position, I carefully moved to the end of the car and chanced a look, seeing the van still there. The guy must have been waiting as a huge tongue of flame burst out of the van's open sliding door, bullets shredding the end of the car I was behind, I threw myself back even as I felt a couple of stinging wounds in my legs and arm, looking down to see pieces of torn metal peppering my vest, I hadn't been hit by any of the bullets but the shrapnel sent flying by the bullets shredding the car had hit me.

I could see tears in my jeans and a few pieces of metal sticking out, fragments mostly thank god, but it scared me how much damage that machine gun was doing. I had no doubt it'd hurt like hell later but for now I was able to ignore it as I wasn't feeling very much of anything besides scared, the adrenaline I guess. I crawled towards the other end of the car and chanced a look even as the machine gun fell silent without a target. I could see Amy off to one side, out of the line of fire, sneaking towards the van, pistol out. I grimaced and realised she needed a distraction.

I pulled out my Glock and fired two quick shots towards the van then ducked as the fire hose of bullets started again. Where I was in cover I was behind both vehicles, I should be safe from bullets passing right through, though the hail of hornets passing above me through the space where the car's glass had been told me I had to stay down low.

The noise stopped again and I risked popping my head up, seeing Amy had come to a stop a few feet from the back of the van, she raised her Glock and fired a bullet straight through the painted-over glass in the rear door, shattering it and exposing the interior, without hesitation she fired two more shots inside. There was silence for a few seconds then without warning the van's engine roared into life, slamming into reverse and sending Amy sprawling as she dived out of the way. The van driver didn't mess around, he had the van backed up then accelerated towards the exit, right past me as it turned out and in the same direction Andie had gone. With that thought in mind I stood and braced my Glock with my other hand in an aimed fire pose as I drew a bead on the driver's side windscreen, pumping shot after shot into the van as it roared past.

I thought I'd missed, until it slammed straight into the concrete wall at the end of the garage, wheels still spinning and engine racing as concrete chips and dust filled the air. I glanced behind me to see Amy getting to her feet and then start running my way before I took off after the van, as I got close I moved round to the driver's side, seeing no movement I pulled the van's door handle with my free hand, pistol aimed, it wasn't needed.

Half the driver's face was a ruin, pus there was a hole in his chest; he was already dead. I reached round and turned off the ignition then stepped back as his body slumped partly out of the seat and out the door, held by the seatbelt as Amy pulled up next to me.

"Jesus Mik, you're bleeding…" I looked down, seeing blood stains on my jeans and down one arm. I nodded jerkily.

"Yeah, shrapnel" I looked at her. "You okay?" She nodded.

"Not a scratch, I don't think they even saw me, probably didn't even know I was there" With that she turned and pulled the van's sliding door open, revealing a 50 caliber machine gun on a pole mount crudely welded to the parcel area floor, it also revealed another dead man, Amy had put both shots into his head, killing him instantly.

I took a few steps back and then slumped against the concrete wall, all my limbs feeling like they were made of lead.

"You okay Mik?" I looked up to see Amy peering down at me with concern.

"I will be, just…adrenaline washing out, y'know" She nodded and took a few steps to my side then slumped down beside me, her pistol hanging limply from her hand. We were silent for a moment before she spoke.

"Andie?" I nodded, tired beyond belief.

"She got away while they were shooting at me, I told her to head back to the office and call Brenda" Amy nodded slowly.

"Good, there'll be cops swarming over us any time now" I nodded slowly as she continued. "Jesus when that Ma Deuce opened up I thought you were both dead, shit…" I nodded tiredly.

"Got into cover in time, thanks for the save" She shook her head.

"Didn't have much choice, he was hosing your area down, the car in front is shredded metal…shit…both of you could have been killed…oh fuck…I could have lost you both…" Her shoulders started heaving, looking her way I could see the tears running down her face as her body shook with soundless sobs.

I looked away, the aftermath of a shootout hits everyone differently; for me, I felt weak as a kitten and just wanted to sleep, that was how it hit me, Amy dealt with it in her way. We sat there, slumped against the wall as I fixatedly watched droplets of blood slowly drip from the van driver's head wound onto the ground as distant sirens sounded.

That's how the first responders found us less than two minutes later.

 **Los Angeles Bellflower Rodeway Inn**

Simmonds had been feeling good, he'd dealt with Cortez good and proper, blown the son of bitch's head off in front of some of his fucking homies, that'd teach the cock sucker to sell him out to the cops.

Now though, the call had killed his vibe. He ended the call with a muttered snarl, his informant within LAPD records had just passed on the latest info; Rodriguez and Lake had gotten themselves killed; even worse, they'd missed the damned target.

Cabot's replacement was still alive, they were both dead and the opportunity wasted… he felt like cursing, or getting drunk in frustration. With a lifetime of self-control to draw upon he did neither, instead he got changed and went out to the nearest gym, a Fitness 19, a block away, and for the next hour took his frustrations out on a punching bag even as a small sliver of doubt crept into him, could he pull this off?

The local cops had been ridiculously quick in reacting to the initial attack, they'd moved faster than he'd ever imagined and he hadn't come that close to being caught since that night in Baghdad. He shook his head before his natural self-confidence returned; of course he could, it just meant he had to be even faster and smarter next time.

So he punched and kicked the unresisting bag as he plotted his next move.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Jane's viewpoint

"They tried again" At Kate's words we looked up from the notebooks and laptops in front of us to see her walking into the room.

"Tried what?" said Liv, beating Ana and I.

"A couple of guys tried hosing Andrea Hobbs down in the DA's car park, the media's already running with it" I felt my guts clench for a second, before she put me at ease. "Fortunately they missed" I shook my head as she made her way over and found the remote and switched the closest television on and surfed across to a news station.

For the next few minutes we watched as the talking heads prattled on back in the studio, mostly speculation, before they crossed to a live report from a journo on the scene. It was obvious that she didn't have much but we managed to fill in the blanks, it helped we could see the Major Crimes people in the background. We could also see both Amy and Mikki giving separate statements to the FID people in the far background, that alone telling us what had most likely gone down.

"They went after Andrea and Mikki and Amy were there, they took the shooters down before they could get to Andrea" I stated, drawing a frown from Kate who didn't know Elliot and the other FID people.

"How do you know?" I waved at the screen.

"They're both talking to Force Investigation Division; they investigate cops shooting people…" I got a nod of comprehension from her as the camera panned over the attackers van, drawing a comment from Liv.

"It looks like the same crew that hosed the bookie in the drive by, a white van with a 50 caliber mounted in the parcel area" Kate shook her head.

"A goddamned heavy machine gun, these people are lunatics" The view crossed to show two nice cars, I think one of them was an Audi, you couldn't tell from the angle on the other, it looked like it had been eaten by rats where the machine gun had torn it up, it was more air than car now. Kate shook her head again, "Jesus…"

Surprisingly it was Ana who spoke up, she'd become quieter and quieter as time went on, she was withdrawing inside herself as I kept thinking over what Gibbs had said, about the darkness.

"Why not, they have access to military weapons and don't care about collateral damage so using an M2 makes perfect sense"

None of were prepared to argue that point.


	77. Chapter 77

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **77 Interrogations**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Horatio Caine's viewpoint

The place was a disturbed ant's nest, we had two dead shooters, Mendoza with pretty minor injuries and Sykes and Hobbs uninjured, looking at the mess the two cars Mendoza had hidden behind were I had to shake my head, that Lexus and Audi were good for nothing more than scrap metal, luck had been smiling at her, at them both actually.

The van matched the description of the one that had hosed that bookie's car, Kennett I remembered his name was, plus we had the 50 cal itself, the weapon's forensics should allow us to definitely tie it to that case, we were now back in the office chasing down the shooter and driver, we had the wallets of both and were running them through the database.

"What the tagad, that little bakrichod, he's gonna die" I turned, shocked, Khan was staring at his monitors with a fury like I'd never seen before on his face. Khan was a quiet, calm sort of guy, intense in his own way but he saved it for computers from what I could see, this was, to put it mildly, way out of character.

"What's up Khan?" He ignored me, anger in every feature of his face.

"Chief Johnson, I need you here, right now!" he shouted, the whole office went deathly silent, heads spinning as Brenda appeared at her door, obviously as shocked as the rest of us.

"Why whatever is the matter Detective?" Khan wheeled back to his seat and started hammering the keyboard as she hurried over.

"I have located the leak, the one that led to Doctor Isles, Miss Cabot and the others" Brenda's eyes went wide, even as everyone else got up, headed over and crowded round Khan's desk.

"What have you learned detective?" Brenda asked, people moving aside as she strode over, causing him to throw her a look as he continued hammering away at the keyboard.

"After the attack on Miss Hobbs, Amy Sykes and Mikki, I carried out a check to see if there had been a search for home and work addresses for Miss Hobbs, I found there had been, together with those of Mikki and Amy" Scowls erupted around the room even as I leaned in to look at the screen. "The search was for their home addresses, Miss Hobbs work address and their car's plate numbers"

"Oh Christ" It was Provenza. Brenda flicked him a glance that shut him up like a clam, her face was eerily calm, but not in a good way, she then looked back at Khan who was doing something on his computer, pages flicking by almost too fast to follow.

"Go on" she said as Khan stopped, slowed down then flicked back a page, peering at the screen and then slumped back in his chair, looking up at her.

"With that as a starting point, I was able to do a search and found prior searches on the addresses and licence tags for Miss Cabot and Doctor Isles…" He waved wearily at the screen. "All undertaken on the Department's system prior to their kidnapping" Brenda's face was stone, she was holding herself under tight control, limiting herself to one word.

"Who?" He pointed at the screen as Brenda leaned down and in to stare at it.

"Officer Charles Berkley, working in the LAPD Records section" That piece of information set the whole place off.

"You've got to be shitting me" It was Hoyt followed by Flynn.

"One of our own?"

"Jesus" I said, seeing Mac shake his head before speaking.

"I wonder how much he was being paid to rat out fellow officers"

"What's the going rate for a Judas these days? It used to be 13 pieces of silver" It was Booth.

"I don't know, but I assure you I will find out" Brenda said as she stood there, her face rigidly held. "Lieutenant Flynn, please take this individual…" she waved at the screen. "…into custody right now, Lieutenant Taylor, Lieutenant Caine, if you would be so good as to accompany Lieutenant Flynn to ensure the arrest goes…smoothly" I nodded, seeing Mac do the same, but Johnson had already moved on. "Lieutenant Provenza, please notify Deputy Chief Heinrich that I intend to have a serving LAPD officer arrested as soon as humanly possible and I would like him to sit in on my interrogation at his very earliest convenience, plus he should notify the police union" Provenza nodded.

"Will do" She turned back to Khan.

"Excellent work detective, thank you so very much" Khan had calmed down a bit and blushed at the praise.

"They went after my partner, her and the people very important to her, it was the least I could do" Brenda smiled.

"It was enough, thank you" Her voice hardened. "Can you please interrogate Officer Berkley's email and phone records; I want to know who he was talking to and perhaps a link to what he was being paid"

"Almost certainly Simmonds" Booth suggested quietly, but Brenda heard him, nodding.

"True, but we may be able to find another bank account that's still active, giving us a lead on him, lord knows we don't have much else" She looked round, spotting Stella. "Sergeant Bonasera, please contact the DA's office, Lieutenant Provenza can give you the number, I would like you to speak directly to the DA himself, please convey my compliments to Mister Annesley, tell him what we have discovered and ask him for a search warrant for Mister Berkley's house, computer, car, financials, everything you can possibly think of, I want to lift the lid on this man's life and examine every part of it" Stella nodded but Brenda wasn't finished. "Please convey to him in the strongest possible terms that we need this expedited, immediately would be good, sooner would be better" Stella nodded again, I mean instructions didn't get much more direct than that as the Chief looked back to Khan. "The moment we have that warrant, I want you to tear his financials apart" He nodded.

"Immediately" Brenda looked round the rest of us.

"Let's move people"

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Liv's viewpoint

I watched as Jane wrapped up her conversation with a representative of the Yakuza who'd just called. She'd scribbled something on a post-it note.

"Yes, I have the address. Thank you…I mean Arigato" The call ended and she looked round, brandishing the post-it.

"I have an address for Inashi, let's move it" Two minutes later we were in the Tahoe and headed back into town.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Seely Booth's viewpoint

The LAPDs Internal Affairs boss, Heinrich, was cold as you'd anticipate an IA guy to be when faced with a bent cop, but if he was cold, the Chief was arctic. I'd never seen here like this, this damned angry, now it was all turned on the cop at the table, sitting next to his boss, a Lieutenant from Records who wisely said almost nothing, and a union lawyer, an overweight guy named Marsh. From the tone of the first exchange between him and the Chief, I was guessing they'd crossed swords before, if they had, my money was on her all the way.

The cop, Berkley, had denied everything, when shown the search records he'd claimed that wasn't him, that someone else must have used his computer. That went down about as well as you'd expect. Now the Chief was bluntly laying it out for Berkley, a lot more polite than I would have but then that was just her.

"Mister Berkley, let me outline the situation you, due to your crass, venal stupidity, now find yourself in. You have aided and abetted a felon who has tried to murder fellow law enforcement officers, who has kidnapped multiple members of our law enforcement community here in Los Angeles and who is wanted for his involvement in the deaths of almost a score of people" Marsh interjected.

"Allegedly" The Chief ignored him while Berkley sat silent as she continued.

"I will see you thrown into solitary confinement, there to rot until your hearing, then I will see you tossed back in there to serve out your time until your court case" She looked at him like he was something she'd scraped off her shoe. "Then I will argue that you should be kept in solitary confinement for as long as possible"

"You can't do that, besides, you have no proof" Marsh said. Brenda looked at him and shook her head.

"You misunderstand me Mister Marsh. I'm not being vindictive; I'm protecting your client" March shook his head, sending his chin roll wobbling.

"By threatening him with solitary confinement in prison, you haven't even charged him yet"

"I will see him in solitary, not just because that is all he deserves, but to keep him alive long enough to stand trial" She looked back to Berkley, sitting there saying nothing like Marsh had told him to but he looked away. "Every person who has been used by Justin Simmonds, the man for whom you were spying inside the LAPD, has wound up dead"

"Don't threaten my client Ms Johnson" Brenda addressed him but kept her gaze on Berkley.

"I am not threatening him Mister Marsh, Simmonds has already demonstrated that he can reach inside the prison system to have people murdered, I'm trying to save your client the same fate" Her mouth twisted in disgust. "It's more than he deserves but still…" Her shoulder shrug was eloquently dismissive. "Can't try a dead man" Heinrich took up the questioning.

"How much were you being paid to do this Berkley? I mean you don't risk your career on a whim, why did you do it? Was it money or something else?" Marsh jumped in on that.

"My client has nothing to say in the face of this orchestrated witch hunt"

Brenda went to say something but was interrupted by a knock on the door before it opened, it was Khan. He walked in and placed a couple of sheets of paper on the table and bent down speaking softly, too softly for me to hear him as he pointed to several places on the sheets of paper, Brenda nodded slowly, looking up at him.

"Outstanding work detective, thank you" Khan stood and looked across the table at Berkley, the look on his face was a mix of anger and contempt as he stared at him for several seconds before he shook his head.

"Madarchod ke Aulaad" I don't know what he said but from the venom I could guess. Finished, he looked to the Chief and nodded. "Chief Johnson" Brenda nodded back.

"That will be all detective, I know you have more work to do" Khan shot Berkley another filthy glance before leaving as Brenda slid the papers sideways in front of Heinrich who glanced down, then frowned as he took in a number of entries that I could now see had been picked out in yellow highlighter, while the Chief started up again on her target.

"You will go to jail Mister Berkley; the amount of time you deservedly rot is up to you"

"Don't you dare threaten my client, I'll have you up on charges" Brenda shook her head once, her voice calm, how she stayed that way I didn't know.

"Good luck with that, especially when the crimes your client has committed becomes known. Besides, I am simply stating facts Mister Marsh; your client will be charged and tried for multiple accessory before the fact counts, for both four counts of kidnapping and the attempted murder of a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney and two LAPD officers, plus whatever other charges I can lay that in any way relate to this case and your client's actions…" She glanced at Heinrich who was a slightly overweight, pleasant-faced guy, nothing like the Germanic image his surname conjured up. "That's before the internal charges for your little spying activities" Heinrich nodded then spoke, his voice cold.

"I have a long list of charges, mostly carrying significant penalties, up to and including dismissal, but as Chief Johnson has stated, they are small potatoes compared to the charges you will be tried on"

"You have no proof it was my client. As he said, someone else could have used that computer while he was not using it"

"I truly doubt that, given the very specific nature of the searches carried out at multiple occasions, but good luck arguing that in a court" Marsh obviously felt he had something to argue.

"Reasonable doubt, all I have to do is establish that and you lose" Brenda nodded slowly then tapped the table near the papers.

"Perhaps, but when combined with these payments, a thousand dollars a time, coinciding with some quite specific searches, well I'm sure the jury might be persuaded that your client was dirty"

"What payments?" Marsh frowned and shot a glance at Berkley. "I have no idea what you are talking about" The Chief tapped the paper near her hand.

"I refer to these payments, multiple payments, all from a single source, one thousand dollars a time" Marsh frowned darkly as he spoke.

"That information was illegally obtained" I smothered a smile at that weak riposte, if that was Marsh's best effort Berkley was screwed.

"Oh it was completely legal, we got a warrant signed by a judge and all after we arrested your client" Marsh shook his head once before replying.

"You're lying; you couldn't possibly have got one in the time between arresting him and now" The smile Brenda turned on him was so sharp I'm surprised it didn't draw blood.

"Mister Marsh, let me tell you that you would be surprised just how fast the DA's office and our judges can move when we explain that your client was involved in the kidnapping of one DDA and the attempted murder of another, in the basement of the DA's building" She tipped her head to regard him. "It was truly a wonder to behold" Heinrich smiled, cold as.

"Judges and DA's tend to frown on those sorts of things, don't they Chief?" Brenda looked his way and nodded.

"Oh most definitely Chief" She looked back at Marsh. "So let me be clear here Mister Marsh, we have searches carried out on your client's computer, and multiple one thousand dollar payments into your client's bank account, the timing of which match up to searches on his computer" She tipped her head to regard Berkley. "My computer specialist is currently tearing apart the entire online history of your client to see what else he has been looking into, whatever it is, we will find it" I didn't miss Berkley's face paling at that.

"My client is innocent; anyone could have used his computer while he was away"

"That is possible" she conceded then continued. "That's why his computer is being subjected to forensic analysis, looking for anyone else's prints on it" She threw a glance at Berkley, then sighed. "We both know that they'll find no other prints, plus we'll soon enough be able to tie his actions to each of these payments, don't you worry about that"

"We will fight these charges" Brenda sighed, then pulled her glasses off and gently tossed them onto the table where they landed on top of Berkley's file.

"Mister Marsh, you have a perfect batting record against me on these issues, 100 per cent strike out" She looked at Berkley. "You must have seen the Witsec trial; did Mister Marsh here tell you they were originally his clients?" She gave a little lopsided smile. "I just bet he didn't"

"Johnson…" Marsh started, but the Chief ignored him.

"They decided that they needed someone more…inspiring to represent them, can't say it did them any good, they're all on death row because of the Special Circumstances of the case" She smiled happily. "Something that will apply here because you got paid to aid and abet kidnappings, which is Special Circumstances right there" Heinrich nodded.

"That means when you go to jail, you get to share the same wing as those equally corrupt cops"

"If, you still haven't charged my client" Marsh interjected.

"When…" The Chief stated confidently. "After all given your track record, it's not like you've got many successes to write home about, so I wouldn't be giving your client false hope" she pointed out, backed up by Heinrich.

"Son, let me spell this out for you. We will track down the person paying you, we will tie your actions to that person and let me tell you, given that you helped that person to kidnap our people and helped set up an attack on more of our people, you are going to trial, you are going to be found guilty and you will spend the rest of your life behind bars"

"Forever tarred as a bent cop" The Chief shook her head. "Something I hate almost as much as the Chief here" Heinrich nodded agreeably.

"In my case it's my job, but in her case, one of the people attacked was in her squad and the rest are her friends, so sending you away is more than just her job, its personal" Brenda nodded at his words then spoke.

"Exactly right Chief" She speared Berkley with a cold look. "I am looking forward to making your life sentence a personal project. You are going to jail Mister Berkley; you made that choice and now must live with the consequences. The length of that sentence is up to you. You can tell me everything you know about the man who was paying you and what you have been looking up for him, and you will go to court and take your chances in the legal system, or you can refuse to assist us and place your faith in Mister Marsh here to keep you from dying in jail, which I can and will assure you I will be pushing for at your trial, something I am sure the DA's office will be more than happy to support" In the silence that followed she put her glasses back on and picked up her pen, flipping open the folder in front of her and pausing, pen poised… "What's it gonna be?"

 **Los Angeles Gardenia**

Jane's viewpoint

Ana and I stood on each side of the door to the apartment Inashi was supposed to be in as I knocked carefully then stood back. About twenty seconds later we heard a male voice.

"Who is there?" I looked at her and got a nod as I answered.

"Ubereats, I have a Kung Pao Chicken and rice order here for Inashi"

"What?" The door opened, right till the security chain stopped it. "I didn't…" His eyes widened as he saw me and the door slammed shut as Ana took a step to the side and lined up, kicking the door, hard, it tore out of the lock and banged up against the security chain. I saw Ana frown darkly and set herself again as I moved next to her.

"On three?" She nodded and I counted. "One…two…three…" We both lashed out, our boots hitting the door almost simultaneously, the impact too much for the security chain as it tore loose and the door swung open. We swarmed in, looking left and right, until I saw the open door to the balcony. Moving that way I looked over and saw Inashi down on the ground, running, as I spoke urgently into the radio's mic.

"Inashi's bolted, he's gone over the balcony into the driveway below and he's headed towards the front" As first Liv then Kate responded I took a step to the edge of the balcony and saw he'd swung down to a lower balcony and then jumped down to the driveway down the side of the building. Liv appeared from the back of the building running hard and calling out his name.

"Inashi…stop… police!" He didn't. Ana joined me as we watched Inashi run. Looking down I gauged the distance then spoke.

"Kate, now!" She appeared around the corner, right in front of him, he tried to dodge but she grabbed his shirt and using his momentum, swung him around and face first into the brick wall, he bounced hard and fell back, stunned I guess, blood already streaming from where his face had smashed against the brick as Liv arrived.

A minute later and they'd drag-marched him back up and into the apartment, when I pushed the door shut after them it started to swing back open, the lock destroyed, so I propped a chair against it to keep it closed. Kate had tossed him back onto the sofa as blood streamed from his forehead and nose where they'd hit the bricks, she'd already started the questioning.

"You handed over the keys to a stolen FedEx truck to a man a few days back; I want the name of that man"

"Go fuck yourself bitch" I was about to say something when Ana beat me to it.

"The next time you don't answer the question, you get hurt, understand?"

"Fuck you too!" Ana tipped her head to regard him, her face calm as Kate tried again.

"Give me the name" Inashi was a slow learner.

"Shove it up your cunt, you fucking…ahhhh!" His curse was cut off by Ana's snap kick to his chest, sending him deep into the back of the sofa then bouncing forward and spilling off the sofa and onto the floor where he coughed and spluttered as Ana stepped back, waiting. When he finally stopped reacting she spoke calmly.

"The next time you don't answer her question I will break something, that's your one and only warning" He looked up at her and ground out his words.

"Think you're fucking tough, you don't know who you're dealing with" His threats were somewhat diluted given the blood on his face, the pained sound of his voice and the fact he was sprawled across the floor, given all that I shrugged.

"Yeah I know; you're Yak, so what?" Inashi was obviously used to issuing threats, not receiving them.

"We'll find you and fuck you up, you're dead bitch!" I smirked down at him.

"Who the hell do you think told us where to find you?" He peered up at me, not getting it so I spelled it out. "I walked in and asked the Oyabun, Kurita, for his help in finding you, he was happy to do a deal to give you up" The surprise was visible in his eyes.

"No…you're lying" Liv spoke up for the first time.

"You can ask him after we're finished with you, he'll be happy to confirm it" Inashi was still processing it, his denial automatic.

"You're full of shit bitch" I looked down at him as I gave it to him straight; making him understand he was better off cooperating.

"Walked in and sat down at the table in his private room at Ryuju, he was there with Abe and the others having lunch, we had a nice polite chat, I asked politely, he gave you up equally politely"

"I don't fucking believe it" At Inashi's denial Kate shrugged.

"Believe what you want, we're here now and I want that name. Who did you give the truck too, who paid you for it?"

"I ain't telling you nothing" I barely had time to protest before Ana took a step forward and grabbed Inashi's arm, a second later her strike to the elbow had shattered it, it sure as hell wasn't supposed to bend backwards like that as Inashi howled in pain. Ana stepped back, watching as he curled around his shattered elbow, obviously unmoved.

"You were warned" I saw Kate and Liv exchange concerned looks as I stared at Ana through narrowed eyes, she didn't look at me, still looking down at Inashi where he was cradling his now useless arm to his chest, rocking back and forward in agony. "Each time you refuse to answer, something else gets broken" Inashi looked up, tears of pain rolling down his face, his voice full of venom.

"I'm gonna kill you, you're fucking dead you mad bitch" Ana's voice didn't change, as calm as if she was discussing the weather.

"I don't think so, now she has a question for you, before you answer, remember that you have plenty of other joints and I have all day" She turned to look at Kate. "Ask again" Kate frowned at Ana, then looked down at Inashi and tried again.

"What is the name of the man you passed the stolen FedEx van to last week?" Inashi looked up at her, opened his mouth, then looked to Ana and shut it again. Ana crossed her arms and stared down at him.

"You were asked a question" Liv looked to her and shook her head then spoke, looking down at Inashi.

"It's in your best interests, believe me" Inashi looked from Ana to Liv then me, then to Kate and back to Ana then nodded slowly.

"His name's Jerome Moore, though he goes by Jerry" Kate nodded.

"That's a good start, answer a few more questions just as honestly and we're out of here" Before I could speak Ana spoke.

"And I don't have to break anything else"

Ten minutes later and we were in the Tahoe on the way out of Gardena,

"How the hell do we find this guy in Los Angeles, he could be anywhere?" Liv asked. "At least with Saunders we knew where he worked and what he did, all we have on this Moore guy is he's ex-military" I turned to look at her in the back seat as Kate drove.

"Maybe, Inashi said he's been doing jobs for him on and off for a couple of years, that means he's been here long enough to get established which in turn means people must know who he is and where to find him" Kate looked my way.

"That's fine but how do we find him?" I smiled.

"We ask someone whose job is to find people who don't want to be found" That got me a raised eyebrow from Kate.

"I'll bite, who?" I pulled out my phone and opened up the contacts list, scrolling down to 'M'.

"A friend of ours, a bounty hunter named Maze"

 **Los Angeles San Quentin Penitentiary**

Andrea's viewpoint

I sat alongside Brenda in the prison's interrogation room, the comforting presence of Amy standing against the wall nearest to me, on the opposite wall was Stella Bonasera while Mac Taylor stood behind us and Mikki stood next to the door on the far wall; no one was taking any chances.

I'd managed to get a change of clothes, swapping into a suit I kept in my office for unexpected court appearances, my original set of clothes were filthy, plus my shoes were ruined after scuttling across that concrete floor on my hands and knees. Without a spare pair I was still wearing them, scrapes and all, self-consciously I'd tucked my feet under the chair I was sitting in to hide them.

Mikki had, after being tended to by an EMT and declared fine, raced home for fresh clothes. She was a mass of sticking plaster under her fresh clothes but nothing worse thank god, every time I closed my eyes I could hear that monstrous machine gun, feel the car shaking and trembled myself, in fear and worry, for me partly but mostly for Amy and Mikki, they were the brave one's who'd risked everything to protect me.

I wondered what I'd done to deserve two women so wonderful in my life, what I'd done to have them risk everything to protect me. Right then and there I determined that I needed to make them know how much I loved them both, that once things settled down here we were going away for a while, someplace nice and peaceful and beautiful and I was going to tell both my wonderful girls exactly how much I loved them and needed them in my life, now and forever.

My thoughts were interrupted by a rattle of chains as Wynter was led in past Mikki, his hands and feet shackled, connected by a chain which was secured to the desk as he was forced to sit. A few moments later his lawyer, Irene Simms arrived, taking in the tableau, her eyes widening then moving to take a seat next to him.

Wynter looked to her and moved his hands, making the chains rattle.

"Can you get them off me" he growled, Simms looked from him across the table to us and for a second I thought I saw something there, regret, fear, who could tell, before she spoke.

"Chief Johnson, my client would like to be released from these restraints" She looked around, taking in the four detectives and the two prison guards standing behind Wynter. "With this much security surely he is not a threat" Brenda shook her head.

"I think not counsellor, Mister Wynter no longer warrants treatment like his fellow prisoners, he will be treated as the dangerous animal he is" Simms glanced at Wynter and I saw it again, fear, before she replied.

"Mister Wynter is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but here you are treating him like a convicted felon" Unimpressed, Brenda turned to address Wynter directly.

"You're going to need a better class of disposable henchman Wynter, the ones you used to have weren't up to the job" She smiled, as warm as a blizzard. "They missed me and all four wound up dead" She looked to me then back again as I spoke up, playing my part.

"They came after me too and they wound up dead as well" Wynter sneered at us.

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about" he said but before we could speak Amy broke in.

"Keep telling yourself that, but don't expect the next bunch to do any better" She shook her head. "I killed one of your last batch of would-be assassins and my partner killed the other, so that's two more you've lost" Simms interjected herself back into the discussion.

"Chief Johnson, what exactly are you accusing my client of?" Brenda looked to her, her voice level.

"Why I'm not accusing your client of anything Miss Simms, I **know** he's behind the failed attacks on both DDA Hobbs and I, I'm just looking for the proof I need to see it added to the long list of charges he's facing" Simms glanced at Wynter then spoke.

"My client has been incarcerated here receiving medical treatment and has received no visitors, how could he have arranged anything, let alone what you are claiming?" I smiled without humour and stepped back into the conversation.

"Oh I'm sure there are ways Miss Simms, ones we're both well aware of" Simms knew what I was saying, how could she not? She glanced at Wynter and then back to us.

"I'm afraid that I don't know what you are insinuating Ms Hobbs, but my client could not have had a part in whatever happened to you and Chief Johnson" she said. I could tell Simms was scared of Wynter, probably justifiably so, but as far as I cared that was her problem; she was taking his money, she could deal with the problems he brought with him. She could have walked away but chose to stay so they were her problems now; I had more pressing concerns, ones I was happy to share.

"Mister Wynter, you are facing charges that carry in some cases capital sentences" I shook my head. "While California is not executing anyone at this time that will mean that when you are found guilty you will live out your life behind bars, and will die there" Simms stepped back into the discussion.

"If, not when" she said, at which I smiled, as coldly as I possibly could.

"When, not if" I looked from Wynter to Simms. "Don't get your client's hopes up Counsellor, I will be seeking Special Circumstances for a number of his crimes" I looked back to Wynter. "If you're wondering Mister Wynter, Special Circumstances is an addendum to a series of crimes that in effect ties the judges hands, conviction of a crime with Special Circumstances is an automatic life sentence, unless California decides to start executing people again, in which case your sentence suddenly gets a lot shorter" Brenda nodded.

"So get used to the four walls of a cell Mister Wynter, you will never see anything ever again without looking through the bars of your cage" Wynter's response was short and sharp but not unexpected.

"Bitches, fuck you both" Brenda looked my way and shook her head slowly.

"I've arrested literally hundreds of killers and other scum and they all say the same thing" I nodded in agreement.

"I get the same thing when I get them convicted, originality isn't something they're overly endowed with" I said as Brenda glanced back at Wynter and shrugged.

"No Mister Wynter, you will spend the rest of your life rotting on death row, I'm sure you will learn to like some of your fellow inmates, god knows I've sent plenty of psychos and monsters there over the years, they're going to love you"

"You're dead, both of you, you hear me dead!" Simms looked shocked for a moment then tried to smooth it over.

"I'm sure my client didn't mean that and was overcome by the emotion…" I held up my hand.

"Spare us Counsellor, your client's just letting his true colours shine through" I glanced at him. "He'll need more than idle threats to avoid a date with death row"

"You both think you're so fucking smart don't you" Wynter leaned forward, the venom in his eyes a match for his voice. "Well so did that first cunt, the other lawyer, and now she's gone, just like the others" He sat back and sneered at us. "Sooner or later one of two things is gonna happen, I walk out of here, free as a bird, or you get your friends back, in pieces" I felt my guts clench at that, the certainty… "If you live long enough to see it, which I don't think you will"

Before anyone could react Mikki was next to Wynter, grabbing his hair she yanked it back, hard, slamming him back in the chair and twisting his head to where she could stare at him from a distance of a few inches as I stared at her.

"I have a message for you too" she ground out. "If there's another attempt on either of these two women, not only will I kill the scumbags you send after them, I will walk in here and put a bullet through your skull, nice and quick" Brenda spoke up sharply from next to me.

"That's enough detective!" Mikki glanced at her and nodded once, then turned to Wynter.

"I give you my word Wynter, another attempt and you won't live to see another day, understand me pendejo de mierda?" With that she let him go and stepped back. Before Brenda could respond Amy spoke up.

"And if she can't, I will, remember that"

Tagad = Fuck

Bakrichod = Goat fucker

Madarchod ke Aulaad = Son of a motherfucker

Pendejo de mierda = Fucking asshole


	78. Chapter 78

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **78 The noose tightens**

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Kate's viewpoint

I'd offered to run down to LAX to pick up Alexis and Hayley, but Hayley had declined, instead renting her own vehicle and making their own way to the house, but that was Hayley; self-reliant didn't begin to describe her, something her training with the British secret service had only hammered home.

Now though they were here and after introductions I was walking them both through what had happened. There were no tears from Alexis, surprising me, but a look from Hayley had conveyed that message, she'd done her crying before she got here, now she was focussed on finding her father.

To keep her occupied I walked her through to the lounge room and got her settled with a coffee, then set her loose with the files we'd accumulated, telling her that another pair of eyes, someone with a fresh perspective, might see something we hadn't. She'd looked at me sceptically until I told her that her dad had walked in and within a couple of hours had spotted something a room full of cops hadn't, giving us a new and profitable line of investigation, one that had led us to Wynter. With that example she'd nodded, asked a few questions and then settled down to look into Wynter's file.

With that done Hayley grabbed me and we ended up in the kitchen as I made her a tea and a coffee for me.

"How close are you really, to actually finding Rick?" she asked bluntly. I gave her the truth.

"Close, we have a lead on one of the crew who kidnapped him, well them, when we find him we'll either have a line on where they are or on someone who does know" She nodded then spoke.

"What are you doing to find them?"

"A friend of Jane and the others, a bounty hunter named Maze, she's apparently the best in Los Angeles in prising people out from under rocks and she's on the case. She's a friend of them all as well so she's 'very' motivated to find our guy" She nodded sceptically.

"Suppose this Maze finds him, what then?" I smiled grimly.

"We find out where they are then we go and get them, no matter what" She nodded slowly.

"And how exactly do you plan to do that and get out again in one piece?"

"There are four of us, five with you, I figure that should even the odds" I said, she looked at me challengingly.

"That's all well and good Kate but trust me, you need more than that" Confused, I tipped my head to regard her.

"Like what?" I got a resigned look as she explained.

"An extraction plan so none of you go to jail for life would be a really good start" she said as I frowned, then realised she was right, I'd been so focused on getting them back I'd missed the longer-term implications. I looked around but the others weren't around right now, off doing other things elsewhere in the house, before I looked back at her and asked the question.

"What do you suggest?" I got a small smile.

"Glad you asked"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Stella Bonasera's viewpoint

"That's interesting" At his voice I turned to look at Booth where he was sitting at the desk next to mine, the one that had been Rizzoli's actually

"Oh?" He indicated the screen in front of him.

"Our two dead shooters are ex-Army, they served in Iraq together, picked up a string of minor offences since getting back, plus suspected of being associated with a number of other former military who work as muscle for hire, there's no proof they can tie them to any specific crimes but the word on the street is they do work for the Cartels and some of the other organised crime families; basically when you want to send a message but don't want your own fingerprints all over it, you use them"

"Do we have any known associates?" I asked.

"Looking, mostly others suspected of being in the same group, we'll have to run them through the database and see if we get any hits, or if they tie up to Wynter or Simmonds" I nodded, it wasn't much but it was worth a look.

"I've got a question" At the Southern drawl I turned to see Duquesne sitting back on a desktop, a coffee in her hand. I nodded.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I was thinking back to the attack on the hospital, even if they'd managed to get Wynter out, what were they going to do with him? He was in ICU for a reason, Rizzoli and Benson and Beckett had left him smashed and broken" I nodded, wondering where she was going.

"Yeah, so?"

"They must have known the state he was in, after all they came to ICU after him, so if they'd got him we'd have started searching high and low, plus given his money, we'd start checking all the private planes leaving in case he was trying to skip the country, I mean he wasn't going to be flying commercial, not in his state" I nodded as Booth spoke up.

"So what's your take?"

"He'd need medical care, but we'd start checking hospitals, the public and the private, looking for him so he couldn't go there" I nodded.

"You're thinking somewhere else; somewhere he could get looked after?" I got a nod.

"Yes, I was thinking he'd need care but couldn't go to a hospital, but his injuries would look like he was recovering from a bad fall maybe, so they might call in someone"

"You're thinking a doc doing house calls?" Booth suggested but was rebutted by Khan who was sitting at his computer a couple of desks away.

"I think not, after all a doctor would want to see the patient's x-rays and scans and such, especially as he wouldn't have them with him" Calleigh nodded.

"Dead right, so he needed medical attention but not at a hospital and not from a doctor" A light bulb went on inside my head as I got where she was going.

"You're talking a home care medical service" She smiled happily at having someone else come to the same place she was.

"Exactly, we have a time frame, they'd have to be set up in advance of the attack on the hospital" She shrugged. "It's worth a shot" I nodded and turned to look at Khan, smiling nicely.

"Ahmed, we need your help"

An hour land a half later we'd run through the list of home medical services Khan had compiled and struck gold, a service half-way between San Francisco and Los Angeles during the period in question had been placed on standby by a 'Patrick Forsyth' then cancelled two days later. He'd had to leave a deposit though, using a credit card in the name of Cable Consulting Services, he'd claimed it was his company, none of us had heard of them before so we put the name up on a whiteboard along with some notes and then passed the info up the line to the Bureau's cyber people, maybe it would help.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Alex's viewpoint

I was becoming concerned for Nat's state of mind, Well all of us actually but she was slipping into a more distressed state, edging into depression, the uncertainty of our situation was weighing on us all, but most of all Natalie, her normally buoyant personality crumbling.

I'd already been concerned before this morning's incident. One of our guards, a man named Jerry, had made no secret of his desire to 'fuck one of you blonde ho's, a little going away present' as he put it. He'd been the one who turned up to take us to the toilet this morning; uncuffing Natalie from the pipe and re-cuffing her hands in front of her before pushing her out of the room. Less than two minutes later there had been a woman's scream, followed by a male shout, then another scream. In less than 20 seconds there'd been a thunder of boots up the stairs and along the corridor before two of our captors had arrived, guns drawn. Seeing their frowns at finding us sitting there Maura lifted her hand and pointed to the left, towards the toilets, one of the men headed that way just as one of their leaders, Bob his name was, arrived. He stared at us then spoke.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Maura and I pointed to our left as Rick spoke.

"One of your people took Natalie"

"Jerry took her" I added. He scowled and turned, just as Natalie appeared, guided by one of the other men, her clothes dishevelled and a red abrasion across the left side of her face, one that was going to leave a significant bruise. We forced ourselves to our feet as she was pushed into the room, gathering her into our embrace as she trembled violently, tears on her face. The leader walked over and forced her face around, taking in the damage then scowled darkly, letting her go as he turned to another of his men.

"Get that useless fucker in here" A few seconds later Jerry walked in, a series of parallel scratches down one side of his face, already bleeding; obviously Natalie had fought back and paid the penalty for it. Bob looked at him and shook his head.

"What the fuck did you do?" Moore shrugged nonchalantly.

"Bitch gave me trouble, I slapped her around and she scratched my face, so I smacked her" He shrugged. "No big deal" Bob's face darkened.

"You dumb fuck, try telling that to Simmonds" He turned to us. "What do you say happened?" Natalie was too shocked to reply so Bob reached out and shook her, causing her to cry out in fear. "Hey you, I'm asking, what happened?" It took a few seconds before Natalie was able to speak.

"He tried to force me over the toilet, he was going to rape me" At his sceptical look she turned and indicated the back of her skirt, it had been torn partly apart along the seam at the back. Seeing it Bob's eyes narrowed before he turned on Jerry, his voice angry.

"You're gone, out of here, get the hell out and don't come back" Jerry's jaw dropped.

"What the fuck?" Bob's jaw set as he stared Jerry down.

"Fired, off the team, get your stuff and fuck off" Jerry wasn't taking it well, his face turning red with anger.

"What are you talking about; you're kicking me out because of this blonde ho?" Bob shook his head, his voice carrying anger.

"No, because when Simmonds see's the damage to his property, after you were told they were completely off limits, he'll kill you on sight" Bob shook his head once then pointed out of the room. "Get the fuck out of here and don't show yourself anywhere anyone might see you for a couple of weeks, I'll try and stop Simmonds from finding and killing you" Jerry was obviously in shock.

"He wouldn't, he couldn't, not for this blonde cunt" Bob just speared him with a look before he explained, speaking slowly like he would to a child.

"I'm going to have to ring Simmonds and tell him you hit this one, so he knows it wasn't one of use, I'm not letting him take his anger out on me for this so you better be long gone before he gets here, otherwise he's likely to shoot you on sight if you're lucky, if not he may decide to carve you up with that fucking knife of his, so fuck off out of here"

"Fine" Jerry spat. "Fuck you too" With that he turned and barged out of the room leaving us staring at Bob. He just shook his head and pointed to another, the one known as Tony.

"You're on bathroom duty, I'm gonna make sure that fuckers good and gone" Tony nodded.

"You got it" With that Bob nodded and left as Tony waved Natalie towards the door. "C'mon" Realising she was too shocked and shaken I spoke up.

"Give her a chance to recover, I'll go"

"Or take me" said Maura.

"Fine" He recuffed Natalie between Rick and I then uncuffed Maura. "C'mon" As she was guided out Rick and I gathered Natalie into our embrace as she shook and trembled, her tears soaking my shoulder, even as I pondered the meaning of the term '… _his property_ '.

 **Washington DC FBI Headquarters Cyber Crimes Division**

Elijah Mundo's viewpoint

"Got something!" At Raven's call I walked over to peer over her shoulder.

"What is it?" She threw me a glance.

"The latest credit card the LA cop's passed along, the account's still active" I smiled thinly, we'd been waiting for this, all the others had been shut down or emptied and abandoned, now though we might have a chance.

"Go on" She smiled slightly, her attention on the screen as she scanned through page after page of data.

"This Cable Consulting Services account is still in use, it acts as the master account for mostly real estate rental, offices mostly, right across the country" I frowned, the brief we'd seen from the LAPD, backed up by the Bureau files on the few people recovered from this Cabal suggested they rented offices in cities to conduct 'interviews' with prospective models, with some drugged and taken right then and there.

"Anything stand out?" She nodded slowly as she flicked between pages.

"Yeah, most of the transactions are short-term, like this one in Columbus, an office for a two weeks, started last week, same here in Chicago, that one just ended, then there's this warehouse in Los Angeles, again, recently rented and only short term, it seems they create a transfer account that the money goes into from this account, then from that account out to pay the rental so there's no direct connection" I nodded.

"What stands out?"

"Two things, this account's being regularly topped up from another account in a different bank, I'm trying to run that one down, plus this account's paying long term rental on a building out in the back blocks of California, in some place called Victorville " She looked up. "It's some satellite town over the mountains to the east of Los Angeles; the lease's been running for years"

"Bring it up" She brought up a page full of monthly payments stretching back years, the same amount each month, increasing a bit every two years. I nodded.

"Long term lease with rental increases every two years it looks like" Raven nodded, then scrolled down, it ran for pages.

"They've been paying for it for over a decade….hang on…" She peered at the screen and tipped her head. "What's this?" She copied some details and pasted them into a different window as I tried not to let the fact we were trawling inside a foreign bank's computer systems bother me too much. "Okay…this subsidiary account pays for the water and electricity bills for that property, that's some serious power bills" I nodded, seeing Avery appear in the doorway to the tank and waving my arm to attract her attention, she nodded and headed our way.

"Can you call up a view of the building please?" By the time Avery had arrived we were looking at a nondescript flat-roofed grey building out in Victorville, several things were visible from Google Earth and Streetview, the building had a lot of power going into it and had a serious set of air conditioning systems on the roof. Avery jumped right in.

"What have you got?"

"One of the accounts LA just sent us is still active and is paying real estate costs" I said, Raven backing me up.

"Most of them are short term rentals paid through subsidiary secondary accounts but they've been paying for this place in Victorville, in the desert east of LA, for over a decade" Raven stated as Avery looked in, nodding slowly.

"Is that the place? Does that look like an I.T. place to you, with all that power and AC?" We both nodded as Raven turned to second screen and started typing, then looked round.

"It's certified for a server farm" She nodded at the screen. "I've got an ad from back before it was leased when it was still on the market; it says it's rated to support an IT centre such as a remote back-up server farm or a call centre, it's got its own back-up power generators"

"Who is in there?" I asked. Raven ran her eyes down a list then answered.

"A company called Concord Priority Services" Avery nodded slowly then stood up.

"Pass that info across to the LAPD" She stood up and stretched a little. "It was their information right?" We both nodded. "What about the rest?"

"Property rentals, short term ones"

"Send them too, they're keeping us in the loop, we need to return the favour"

"Got it boss" Avery smiled slowly.

"Good work people, very good work"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Horatio Caine's viewpoint

We were standing around the whiteboards in the murder room as the Chief ran us through what we'd learned.

"This building, out in Victorville to the east, this Concord Priority Services, is apparently being used by the Cabal, and has been for a decade; that makes it important to them and therefore to us" She looked round the room. "Unfortunately, we don't have enough to get a warrant, so we're trying something else. As a commercial building it's subject to semi-regular safety audits, for fire, occupational health and safety, that sort of thing" Booth waved his hand.

"I take it we've got reports from the local fire brigade?" The Chief nodded.

"Yes, I had a talk to the local Fire Chief and he says the place has been checked four times in the last six years, apparently it was being used as a call centre and is full of computers"

"So when do we hit it?" It was Hoyt.

"We don't detective, not immediately anyway, given we cannot definitively tie it in to the Cabal's criminal activities, we're taking a more cautious approach to avoid tipping them off in case this is something important to them" She looked round. "That's why Lieutenant's Flynn and Caine are going to be conducting a fire safety audit on the building" I looked to Flynn to see him looking back at me, before he looked to the Chief.

"We are?" She smiled widely.

"Indeed, one of the Air Wing's helicopter's is waiting to fly you out to Victorville airport where the Fire Chief out there will kit you out in his uniforms, then you pick up clipboards, drive out and conduct an inspection" Flynn looked to me and shrugged.

"I wanted to be a fireman when I was a kid, never thought I'd get the chance now" he said as I pulled my sunglasses out of my pocket.

"Might as well go out in a blaze of glory"

Less than ninety minutes later we were walking through the building's doors, nondescript wasn't the word, nothing on the building or doors to identify it beyond a street number, we walked in to a small foyer with a middle-aged woman sitting at the desk facing us, it was pretty bland, no windows or open doors into the rest of the building and no sign saying who was in the building either.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" The Fire Chief handled that.

"Hi ma'am, we're with Victorville Fire Department, we're here to conduct a fire safety audit on the building" He proffered his I.D. which the woman peered at for a second and nodded.

"I'll just call Mister Trimboli, he's the manager" The Chief nodded as she picked up a phone while I made a show of looking around, then flipped up the top sheet on my clipboard and noted the name Trimboli. Less than a minute later a guy, Italian heritage obvious, just as obviously he'd used to be a big strong guy but was now starting to go to seed, arrived and introduced himself as Joe Trimboli. I added the Christian name to my notes.

"It's been what, a year since the last audit?" he asked, getting a head shake from the Fire Chief, Leary.

"Fifteen months, we're trying to get them to an annual basis, we've not had the manpower so we're putting on some additional people I'm training up" He indicated us. "This is Flynn and Caine, they're going to be taking on the audit functions for the Department" We got nods as Trimboli waved us after him.

"Come on through"

The place was a typical office, a dozen desks with women answering phones on wireless headsets at about half of them as they stared into screens, though they mostly looked up at strangers in the office, I doubted they saw many people who didn't work here. The building was pretty standard, heavy duty cabling for the server room and the air conditioning, it was pretty comfortable inside compared to the dry heat outside. We dutifully followed Leary round the building as he started pointing things out to us. After two or three minutes of that Trimboli got bored and left us to it.

Taking a chance I walked over and smiled to an early thirties woman working at a computer, getting a polite smile back.

"Pardon me miss, how often do you have fire alarm evacuation drills here?" She frowned even as I glanced at a computer, it was full of a mass of data but I saw the words "Columbus Ohio" and "Toronto Canada" in two of the fields with some times and dates. The woman shrugged.

"Can't say precisely, maybe six months maybe" I nodded and made a show of making notes then nodded.

"Thank you" I walked back over as Flynn looked my way, raising an eyebrow.

"Place looks pretty normal, except for that" He nodded towards the back of the building. Looking that way I could see a sealed room, racks of tech inside, obviously the computer room, next to it was an office, Trimboli's as he was sitting in it and another room that looked like the server room, though with less tech and two guys working there. I looked back at him.

"We need to have a look inside" With that we walked over to the server room and, opening the door and getting a wall of cold air hitting us, stepped inside, making a production of checking the sprinklers and fire extinguishers, but there was nothing else of interest in there. That done we briefed Leary then approached Trimboli's office.

"Hi, we have to check the fire escapes and the fire alarm, plus check that room" Leary said as he waved at the other room, making Trimboli frown.

"In there?" Leary nodded.

"Yeah, rules man" Trimboli nodded as he got up from his desk, walking round and out of his office and to the room next door, the door was locked so he produced a key and unlocked it, then pushed the door and spoke up.

"Guys, fire inspection so turn off all the monitors" He turned back to us, filling the doorway with his bulk. "Sensitive info, gotta keep a lid on it" We nodded and I decided to prod.

"What exactly do you do here Joe?" He looked at me and shrugged then set off on what sounded like a pre-prepared spiel.

"Concord Priority Services is a priority secure transport company, we ship material discreetly from one side of the country to the other, we contract with independent truck drivers, no one knows about it, so if someone wants to ship family heirlooms from Florida to Washington or New York to San Francisco, we arrange for it to be done, very quietly" He tapped the side of his nose. "We fly under the radar, cause no one knows about it, means that our customer's valuables are safe because no one suspects it's in a semi rig, everyone expects some kind of armoured security, that just attracts attention, something we avoid like the plague" I nodded, looking like I was interested, which wasn't hard, given what we knew about the Cabal's operations.

"Sounds interesting, never heard of you so you must be doing everything right" He nodded.

"Just the way we like it" At a call from inside he stepped back. "All yours" We went in and checked the room, in some ways it was a twin to the server room, lots of computers, not so much servers as PCs, obviously something hush-hush as it was physically isolated from the rest of the operation, I had my own suspicions but kept my mouth shut as we finished off the inspection.

Just over forty minutes after starting we all shook hands with Trimboli who'd walked us out, then piled back into the Chief's truck for the run back to Victorville airport.

"Did you gents find anything?" Leary asked. Flynn looked at me then nodded.

"Maybe, cleared up a few suspicions though" I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, thanks for all your help" Leary shrugged.

"Your Chief, Johnson was it…she was very nice about asking for my help, I make it a habit of keeping on the good side of the police" I smiled

"A wise precaution" Ten minutes later we were back in the helicopter and lifting off for the trip back to LA as I turned to Flynn.

"What do you think?"

"That secure transport story sounded well practiced, I wonder if that's what he tells the women who work for him; they coordinate the transport links across the country, all without knowing what the cargo is" I nodded.

"We need to work out what goes on inside that second room, the lengths he went to in making sure we didn't see anything makes me very suspicious" I frowned. "Plus we need to have a good look into Joe Trimboli, I'm betting we're going to find a connection to Iraq and either the military or that contracting firm of Wynter's"

"You're probably right" Flynn looked to me. "How do we find out what they're doing in there?" I shrugged.

"I don't know, but we'll figure something out" The rest of the flight across the mountains and back across the sprawling LA suburbs was quiet as we lost ourselves in thought.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

My Lieutenant's had done well on their little trip out to Victorville, now we were standing round as Khan worked his computer magic, I didn't want to contemplate how badly we'd needed his expertise on this case, he'd been an inspired choice for the team and partnering him with Mendoza had been a good decision, he was coming along nicely. Now though he was scrubbing through the California DMV database looking for Joe Trimboli, together with all the various spelling alternatives. He'd narrowed it down to a few hundred individuals based on age and was now using image recognition software to match dark hair and swarthy complexion, a couple of minutes later he had a screen full of thumbnails, all staring back at us.

Flynn and Caine leaned in over Khan's shoulders and peered at the screen before Flynn reached out and pointed at one face.

"Him" Caine started nodding.

"Can we get a bigger picture please" A second later he was nodding at the full screen image. "That's him" I smiled.

'What do we have detective?"

"Joseph Trimboli, a California resident, born here, a fifteen year period where he moved round the country, given the addresses I'd say military…" I smiled tightly as he continued. "Moved back to California about a decade ago…" He checked another screen. "Right about the time this Concord Priority company got established…yes, his name is on the documents setting up the company" I nodded and glanced at Caine who nodded and spoke up.

"He has a group of women running what looks a lot like a call centre, plus two guys in a secure room separated from the rest of the place, is there any way to find out who is employed there?" Khan leaned forward, thought about it for a few seconds then diving back into the guts of the net again.

"Probably 401K filings if they are employees…" Khan muttered, already scrolling down his second screen as Trimboli's flat countenance stared back at us from the first.

"Yes, I have current listings for seven women and three men, Trimboli and two others, a David Firth and a Ryan Spelling" Khan twisted back and Trimboli's face vanished from the first screen, replaced by search pages then a blur as more pages flashed by. He paused to look up at me. "This would be more efficient with another screen Chief" I smiled thinly, inwardly applauding his ability to strike at just the right time.

"Find me something to go on and I'll get you whatever you want detective" He gave me a happy smile as I replayed what I'd just said and sighed to myself, I had a feeling I'd just committed us to a lot of money for I.T. upgrades.

"Excellent, thank you" He leaned in and then sat back, glancing up at us and summarising. "Both men are California residents, they also have been here for slightly less than a decade, in fact arriving not long after Trimboli, before that they lived elsewhere, again, based on locations, I would suspect military service". He leaned in. "Both are well paid, live in the eastern areas of LA, rent not own and drive late model vehicles" I stood back and nodded.

"If, as you suspect, they are all ex-military, I've got a contact in the Pentagon who's been in touch about this case" I got three sets of interested looks. "He's an investigator with the Navy, a friend of Agent Romanov's actually; he was pulled in to the investigation in the first place via her" I got nods as I looked to Khan. "Can you please bundle that up and send it to me via email and I'll call him once I get it"

"Of course, right away" I smiled at all three of them.

"Thank you all gentleman, that's another lead we didn't have" I got smiles back, even as I headed for my office, I had calls to make.

 **Washington DN Washington Navy Yard**

Leroy Gibb's viewpoint

"Yes thank you Chief Johnson, I'll get our people onto it immediately…I will…thanks again…bye" I hung up and sat back. Brenda Leigh Johnson in LA had turned out to be the same Johnson with the CIA I'd met all those years ago in the Gulf, now she was a LAPD Deputy Chief and running point on this Cabal case.

Now she'd just passed some new leads across and we had some digging to do. I picked up the phone and rang Sarah Mackenzie and passed the details on to her, she in turn would set her IT guy loose and he'd report back.

In the meantime I had a backlog of paperwork to get through, large enough that I couldn't ignore it much longer. I'd barely made a dent two hours later when I got an urgent call to meet Sarah in the same briefing room in the Pentagon I'd met her in before, as soon as possible.

She wouldn't mention it over the phone but the fact she needed to see me ASAP was a message all on its own.

 **Washington DC FBI Headquarters Cyber Crimes Division**

Avery Brook's viewpoint

I walked out of my office, a printout of the email I'd just received hot on the heels of a phone call from Deputy Chief Johnson in my hand. Walking into the tank I looked around, spotting Brodie Nelson and Daniel Krummitz standing by Nelson's desk, excellent, they had just the skill-sets I needed.

"Gentlemen" I said as I headed their way. "I have an immediate priority job for you" They both looked with interested looks, immediate usually meant something interesting.

"What's up boss?" Brodie asked.

"I have a company name and address, they are directly linked to this Cabal, apparently some sort of call centre come server farm" They both started nodding. I handed over the detail of the company, its key people and the address. "I need you to crawl inside their systems and tell me what they're doing out there" Brodie took the sheet and he and Daniel bent their heads over it before Brodie sat and started a search, Daniel peering over his shoulder as I walked round to his other side and took up position there, folding my arms as my 'white hat' and reformed 'black hat' hackers went to work.

"Yeah, serious internet connectivity, the place is rated as a server farm site…multiple back up connections, cable and wireless…" Brodie muttered, drawing a question from Daniel.

"What's the available bandwidth?"

"Full business level suite with a massive pipe, lots of traffic coming and going" As I watched they started digging in.

"Two sets of traffic, one encrypted, no both are…"

"That's commercial grade encryption…" Daniel commented. "…easy to crack"

"Yeah, should be, I'll get a cracker working on trying to brute force the key" He started a program then minimised that window and opened a second. "Let's have a look at this other traffic?" There was a few seconds pause as they both stared at the screen before Brodie spoke. "What the hell?"

"That's no commercial grade encryption I've ever seen" Daniel stated. "I have no idea what the hell that is" Brodie leaned back from the screen, staring at the traffic scrolling, all of it gibberish.

"I have, that's military encryption, our military" I frowned and injected myself back into the conversation.

"What are you looking at?" They both started; obviously they'd forgotten I was still there…boys and their toys. Brodie was the one to answer, still looking at the screen.

"There's two distinct traffic streams in and out of that building, one is commercial grade encryption, we should be inside that within the next hour or so, this though, this second set is military grade stuff, I've seen it before, back before I joined the Bureau" He looked round to me. "Back when I was still hacking, I hacked the Pentagon a few times; it's a bit of a kudos thing in the community…" I nodded. "Getting in was easy enough, but anything interesting was either physically sealed off from intrusion, or running encryption way nastier than anything I'd seen outside, the only place with anything worse was deep inside the NSA, I never did get into that" I nodded slowly.

"And this is the same encryption?"

"Near enough, different model of the same brand" He shook his head, I don't know if we're going to crack it" He looked back at the screen and shook his head again. "It's a generation ahead of anything commercially available and the hackers with the tools to even try this, well they work for people like the Russians, the Chinese, the Israeli's, people like that, and they don't share" I crossed my arms then nodded.

"I might have a source who can help" With that I pulled out my cell and called Johnson in LA, a couple of minutes later I was calling a contact in the Pentagon, a Leroy Gibbs.

 **Los Angeles El Monte Magnolia Trailer Park**

Jerry opened the door to his trailer and stepped in, switching on the lights, he'd spent a couple of hours with a few drinking buddies at a bar before heading home. He'd probably have to find somewhere else to stay for a while; Simmonds was a mad fucker and if he was pissed he might just turn up and take that out on him. Better to let it all blow over, maybe head up to his brother's place in Las Vegas.

He turned to head to the bedroom when he heard a voice, a female voice he didn't recognise, behind him, making the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.

"Jerry Moore, I've been looking for you" Slipping his hand inside his jacket he slipped his knife out of the sheaf under his arm then turned, his arm snapping out and sending the blade straight at a dark woman sitting at the other end of his trailer. In a fluid move she was on her feet and leaned to one side, snatching the knife out of the air with one hand, a sly grin pulling one side of her face up. "That's not very friendly now is it?"

Moore grimaced, that had been one hell of a trick, unfortunately he'd had to hand his pistol back when he walked out of the warehouse and his own was hidden inside one of the cupboards here, nowhere he could get to it quickly.

"Who the fuck are you?" The woman flipped the knife in her hand then casually tossed it aside.

"The name is Maze and you've been a bad boy, there are some people who want to talk to you real bad, so you're coming with me"

"Like fuck I am" Surprisingly the woman laughed.

"Oh good; I like it when they fight" Jerry slipped the brass knuckles he carried in his jacket pocket onto his right hand, speaking as he did.

"Then you're going to like me" The woman took a step forward, more into the light, she was gorgeous, a fit body outlined in leather jacket, pants and boots, normally he'd be overjoyed to get a woman who looked that good back home, but the nasty grin on her face told him a very different story.

"Excellent"


	79. Chapter 79

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **79 Against the Clock**

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Maura's viewpoint

The individual behind our kidnapping, Justin Simmonds, had swept in less than an hour after Jerry's assault and attempted rape of Natalie; he'd walked in, bending over and examining Natalie's face, taking in the bruising starting to appear before standing and turning to Bob, his voice mimicking his expression; angry, very angry.

"Where is that useless son of a bitch?" Bob shrugged.

"Gone, I immediately kicked him out, he's off the team" Bob shrugged. "Your instructions were clear and I have no time for someone who won't follow orders" Simmonds scowled.

"I wish he'd stuck around, I could show him how I feel about people who don't fucking listen to my explicit orders" He shook his head then looked back to Natalie, then to me. "You're a doctor, is it broken?" I did not think it was the appropriate time or place to inform him of the numerous differences between a forensic pathologist and a M.D., instead shaking my head.

"It is badly bruised as you can see, but while I cannot be sure without an x-ray, I do not believe it is either broken or fractured" he nodded then looked at Bob.

"Once this is over that useless prick and I are going to have a discussion…" He smiled dangerously, making his meaning clear. "In the meantime remind everyone else of my orders and make it clear what the penalty is, you're all being well paid to nursemaid these three, they're not whores to be fucked over, got it?" Bob nodded and they turned to go when they were interrupted by Alex.

"He…" She pointed at Bob with her free hand. "…described us as your property, what exactly does that mean?" Simmonds turned round and looked down at her, us, and replied.

"Exactly what it means, you belong to me and I get to decide what happens to you" Rick stared up at him.

"And that is?" Simmonds smiled a little sardonically.

"Right now your leverage to get someone out of jail, once they hand him over, I get to hand you over, Cabot here goes to the Ochoa cartel" He looked at her, an unpleasant smile on his face. "They got real excited at the thought of getting their hands on you; they were more than happy to agree to the one million dollar price tag; didn't argue at all so you're heading to Columbia when this is all over"

I looked to Alexandria, seeing the blood drain from her face, she had done vast damage to the Ochoa cartel back in New York and they in turn had tried to have her killed, that attempt sending her into witness protection. To hand her back to them was a death sentence, far worse really, given what we had seen vindictive cartels do. I reached out and pulled her close in a one-armed hug, feeling her tremble in fear, anger and shock.

"The other two…"I looked up to see him indicate Natalie and I with an airy wave. "…well, I've already done a deal with a middleman, they're both going to new owners in the Gulf, hot blonde Americans attract a premium out there, most of them hate Americans but they really all want to fuck blonde haired bitches, go figure" He shrugged. "I understand you're all lesbians so once this is all done you're going to new owners where you'll get to learn a whole new set of skills"

I sat back, stunned. It was nothing we hadn't suspected, given our captors had not been masked and had been so casual with their names around us, we'd come to the conclusion we were not going to be freed, but to be told we were being sold like cattle, and worse, the use for which we were being sold, it left me struggling to come to terms to his callous words. I shared fearful glances with Natalie, who was pale and trembling, and Alex, who was shaking, before looking up at Simmonds. Before I could respond however I was beaten to it by Rick.

"I take it once you have Wynter back I'm expendable" Rick stated, not asked. Simmonds tipped his head to regard Rick

"Good call, once you're no longer of any use to me, well, you're no longer any use" I gritted my teeth, anger flooding through me at this callous imbecile then looked up at him, my voice low and angry.

"Mister Simmonds, let me explain your situation" He looked down at me.

"Yeah, is this the point where you try and tell me I'll never get away with this, because from where I'm standing I already have" I shook my head.

"No, quite obviously you have, otherwise we would not be here. I am informing you that given your actions, our partners will never stop looking for you, and when they find you, you will regret ever starting this endeavor"

"Like that's gonna happen" Alex looked up and spoke, the colour returning to her face, driven by the same anger I was feeling, loathing in her eyes.

"They've almost caught you several times, every time you've tried something, they've beaten you, trust me, they will track you down and when they do, you'll end up begging for mercy"

"You'd better hope god's feeling merciful because they won't be" Natalie angrily stated, our words drawing a dismissive snort from Simmonds.

"You arrogant, entitled bitches are full of fucking shit" Rick held up his bandaged hand.

"When you took this, I told you if you were lucky, I'd come after you" He shook his head. "My partner will be the one coming after you now and they make a terminator look like an amateur" Rick smiled, not a pleasant one at all. "She'll find you and by the time she's finished with you, you'll wish you were dead" Simmonds looked down at us and shook his head.

"You hang onto whatever makes you happy and feel good, but all you are to me is money in the bank" I stared at him, filled with a shaking anger.

"Enjoy it while you can, before justice catches up to you" Alex shook her head.

"You won't have much chance to spend it" she said as Natalie smiled; a thin, unpleasant one totally without humour.

"Even with Amex, you won't be taking it with you" He grinned at our bravado-filled statements.

"Laugh it up bitches; I don't think you'll be laughing too hard as some filthy rich Arab bastard's fucked up sex slave… He shot a look at Alex, "Some of you won't be that lucky"

With that he turned and walked out, leaving us sitting there sharing scared glances.

 **Washington DC FBI Headquarters Cyber Crimes Division**

Avery Brook's viewpoint

It was getting towards lunch but no one was leaving; things had gotten way too interesting.

As a consequence of my phone call I was playing host to a Marine Corps Colonel with the military's internal law enforcement arm named Mackenzie, she'd arrived with a plain-clothed Navy investigator who turned out to be Leroy Gibbs and a Marine Corps Staff Sergeant named Entwhistle. Given where I worked I easily made Entwhistle's type, he was a tech-nerd, something that I'd become very familiar with. He'd immediately bonded with my team and they were now clustered around a set of computers working away as Gibbs, Mackenzie and I stood around and 'supervised', basically that meant we stood well back, watching the bank of big screens as they worked, making small talk.

"So you believe that there is a connection within the Pentagon that's tied to this Cabal?" I asked, getting a nod from Mackenzie.

"The key people the LAPD have identified are all ex-military, some Army, some Corps, but they have access to military-grade equipment and arms, acquired using contacts and access that has to be inside the system"

"That's Johnson, with the LAPD?" I asked, Mackenzie nodded then glanced at her quiet friend.

"Through Special Agent Gibbs here, he was the initial point of contact" He nodded.

"I know the FBI liaison to the LAPD, she passed on the info that the LAPDs Major Crimes team generated" I nodded.

"That's Agent Romanov?" I asked, getting nods. "I understand that this Cabal has kidnapped her partner" Mackenzie nodded.

"Yes, they're both friends of ours" I nodded at what wasn't being said and changed the subject.

"I have to say the cooperation from the LAPDs been fantastic on this case" Gibbs nodded.

"That would be the Deputy Chief running Major Crimes, Johnson's a good operator" He looked at me blandly. "I ran into her during the first Gulf War" I looked his way.

"I didn't know she was military" He smiled wryly.

"She wasn't, she was there with the CIA" I opened my mouth then shut it, deciding I needed to do a little digging separately and changed the subject.

"Oh, I didn't know that, but she's been great to work with on this case" Before I could say anything more Elijah looked up, saw us there and wandered over.

"Okay, your Sargent Entwhistle tells me that it's an older version of the current encryption, about four or five years old" We nodded and Gibbs spoke.

"Can you break it?" Elijah nodded.

"With the software he's brought, yes, not quite in real time, but with only a few minutes lag" he explained. "What is interesting is where the vast majority of the traffic is coming from" I nodded and raised an eyebrow, inviting him to continue. "It's all heading into the dark web, much of its being routed through a number of nodes way off the web"

"Dark web?" It was Mackenzie. "That's the web that's not accessed through web browsers, is that right?" Elijah nodded.

"Yeah, to find it you have to have the right I.P. address then the right authentication protocols" he explained. "We now have the I.P. of several of the nodes they're using, but not the authentication protocols, well at least not right away, we should be able to get something once we start decrypting the traffic" We looked up at the big screen, watching as basically gibberish appeared on the screen, to be replaced with more gibberish.

"We should have the first decryptions coming through soon" Elijah stated, then followed up. "We've started to decrypt the other traffic, if you'd like to see it?" I glanced at our guests then back to him and nodded.

"Please" He walked back as I explained what was happening to my guests.

"There's two sets of traffic, that protected by the military-grade encryption you know about and a second set, obviously not as important but still, it's protected by good quality commercial encryption, we've started breaking that traffic so if you'd direct your attention to the screens…we're basically seeing the same thing that the person at the other end of the line is on their screen" They nodded and as we watched the gibberish was replaced by a new feed. Times, pickup locations, destinations, it looked like a cargo operation, something Mackenzie observed.

"It's a transcontinental cargo business" Gibbs nodded and spoke.

"That aligns with the spiel the guy on-site told the undercover cops"

As we watched we saw information being received and updated, vehicles reporting they were on-time or if they were late, how long, being told where to meet up with other vehicles to transfer cargo, we watched as a request to ship from Cleveland to Dallas came in. As we watched the person at the other end input the start and finish points, then watched as the computer checked a database and came back with a series of legs, connecting them in time and location. A few minutes later another series of messages went out, notifying a list of five vehicles that they had cargo and giving them the times and places to be to connect from Ohio to Texas.

"It's like DHL, they connect up vehicles and arrange transfer" Gibbs stated as I frowned.

"They can't have all those vehicles on standby can they?" At my query he shrugged.

"Probably not, I'd say we were seeing it talking to a database that records vehicles already scheduled to be in the area and ties them up with this shipment" Mackenzie nodded.

"Efficient, if they are using semi's, well no one looks at independent operators all that much, they're just a truck going from somewhere to someplace" We nodded at that.

A sudden outburst of restrained congratulations behind us attracted our attention; we turned to see the group peering at a cluster of screens.

"What have you got?" I asked. They looked up as Brodie Nelson waved at the wall.

"We'll put it up on the big screen" I nodded and turned back, just in time to see a picture, a woman, African-American, she was stunning, standing in an office environment smiling at the camera, she was featured in a series of images, front, back, side, close up and full length, she was tall and slender, wearing tight jeans, a tee and a bias cut leather jacket, her hair in waves down her back, slim but with breasts noticeable on her slender frame, she was obviously model material. Next to that was a series of criteria, assigned to a file number. It was an email to a client, stating that they had matched his selection criteria, as could be seen by the images. It confirmed the price, $490,000 dollars and the delivery of the clients 'merchandise' from Cleveland to Dallas within the next 96 hours if he confirmed purchase, and attaching an account number to transfer the money to. The time stamp was about twenty minutes ago.

"Oh my god" I said, unnoticed as both Mackenzie and Gibbs were reacting the same way.

"Jesus" Gibbs said in a low voice.

"That's what the shipment is, from Cleveland to Dallas, it's her" Mackenzie said as I nodded, turning to the guys.

"Do we have a reply message?" Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, it came through about five minutes after this one, putting it up now"

The view on the screen changed, a simple email confirming the transaction and stating the money had been transferred. I turned, full of sudden anger.

"Raven!" Her head appeared from the huddle around the screens. "That first message contained an account number, I want to know the who, the where and the how, now" She nodded and moved quickly to another computer as I turned back. The looks on both their faces mirrored how I felt as they stared at the screen. Finally Gibbs spoke.

"Jesus…to see it…" Mackenzie nodded.

"A sale and kidnapping in real time" She looked to me. "With the details you have, can you intercept the truck carrying her?" I frowned, thinking it over.

"We could, the question is, should we?" Mackenzie was appalled.

"But she's been taken, sold, we can't let that happen" Gibbs wasn't so sure.

"If we do, we tip off the Cabal that we know about them, I don't like seeing this woman…" he read off the screen. "Susan Carter, kidnapped, but we can maybe follow her and rescue her when she's handed over" I could see Mackenzie wasn't buying it.

"But we're failing to act, god knows what will happen to her" She looked to me. "If it gets out you could have stopped this and didn't, well…speaking as a lawyer, the Bureau will be crucified in court" I nodded.

"I know, but how many others like her are out there? If we move on this one, we might never find the others" We discussed it back and forward for a couple of minutes, Gibbs was more operationally focussed, he understood the long term implications for the investigation, while Mackenzie was focused on trying to save the victim, finally I told them then decision wasn't mine, I'd have to kick this upstairs to the directors, probably all the way to the Director, he'd have to make the final call. In the meantime Raven had been busy, tracking down the money transfer and tracing it back, something she was now explaining to us.

"The money went into a special purpose account in this bank in the Cayman Islands. The account was created along with a bunch of others a few weeks back in the name of Integrated Staffing Solutions, set up with a nominal amount in it then nothing happened, basically waiting" She looked down at the tablet she was holding then continued. "The amount of four hundred ninety thousand US dollars was transferred into the account by wire transfer from a bank in the US; less than four minutes after the money was transferred in, it was transferred out, to a bank in Tuvalu, then from there to a bank in the British Virgin Islands and from there to that bank in the Seychelles we've been watching, while the initial account in the Caymans was shut down"

"Do we know who the money came from?" Mackenzie asked, getting a nod from Raven.

"An account from the Dallas Commercial Bank, the account's one of several tied to a local big-shot property developer named Randy Bowers, he's a high net worth individual, worth close to a hundred million personally and more through his property development company" She tapped her tablet a few times and an image came up on the big screens, it was a guy in a suit standing with several Dallas Cowboy's players at a game, all smiling broadly. "His public profile is as a successful businessman, he supports the Cowboys and their charities, which buys him a lot of goodwill in Dallas" She pulled a face. "Basically a fine upstanding member of the community"

"Married, divorced, girlfriend?" I asked, in response Raven scanned a few pages.

"No, he's been linked to a number of Cowboy cheerleaders over the years, but nothing more serious" I thought back to Susan Carter; she could have easily been a cheerleader, wondering how that tied in to Bowers motivation. Gibbs looked from her to us.

"Given we have the route, time and destination of the vehicles shipping Susan Carter from Cleveland to Dallas, plus the end recipient, we could trail them all the way to Dallas, then wait until they've handed her over, then move in, make it look like something else entirely" I nodded even as Mackenzie took it up.

"That would work, make it a traffic stop, or a SEC investigation and get a search warrant" I grimaced.

"Easier said than done…" I waved at the information on the screen. "A lot of what we've just done is not admissible in court, the money transfers in particular" I frowned. "I'm going to have to kick this all the way up to the Director of the Bureau, it's going to be his call" As we stared at the screen we were interrupted by a voice behind us.

"Colonel" We turned to see it was Entwhistle. "I've retrieved a date stamp and version code from this version of the encryption they're running, once we get back to the office I should be able to determine who obtained this version and where from" Mackenzie nodded while Gibbs looked at him.

"It's not from a stand-alone system?"

"No sir, this is server side encryption, they're running it from inside their server farm out in California, the people out in the field are running a subset on their laptops but the enabling version is on their servers, the only people who should have access to that version of the software are the encryption people within the Pentagon's I.C.T. team"

"But you should be able to narrow it down to a specific time and date" Entwhistle nodded at Mackenzie's question.

"Yes ma'am, no doubt about it" He shrugged. "Their server change logs will have recorded who made the last change to this version before it was pilfered, and when, so it's going to tell us exactly what the time window was that this was stolen during" Gibbs nodded as Mackenzie looked to me.

"Director Avery, thank you for your help, we have to get back to the Pentagon" She glanced up at the wall of screens. ""And it looks like you have people to brief too" I nodded.

"Thank you for your help, we couldn't have done it without your help and cooperation" I meant it, without their help we'd never have cracked that military-grade encryption. We shook hands all round before they departed for what looked like a long and late nights work, something I could empathise with, I had the same in front of me.

Pulling out my cell I scrolled through the directory, stopping at 'D' and selecting a contact. A few seconds later it was ringing.

"Hi Martine, It's Avery, I need to speak to the boss as soon as you can get me in to see him"

" _He's backed up Avery, is it critical?_ " Martine, the Bureau Director's EA asked.

"I'm afraid so, he's going to need to be briefed on this, then make a decision" Martine sighed gently, a busy person managing an even busier one.

" _I suppose he can give you five minutes at 1.45, we can ask the French delegation to pause for a few minutes_ " She paused. " _It's important isn't it?_ "

"I'm afraid so"

" _We'll see you at 1.45 then_ "

"Thanks Martine"

With that the Call ended and I turned to gather my team, I needed to have a summary of what we'd seen available to show and had less than an hour to make it happen.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Mac Taylor's viewpoint

I was sitting at my desk in the Major Crimes bull pen, drinking the second coffee of the day and scratching doodles on a post-it note, meaningless activity while my mind went over what we'd learned and how it all fit together. We'd just got an update from the Chief, apparently that place out at Victorville was the way they connected buyers with the Cartel, then arranged the transport of their victims across the country, everything being done across the deep web. Something I'd come across before, most recently during that case with Beckett and Benson back in NYC, the child sex slavery case. That had involved connecting customers and that Russian pimp via the deep web.

Thinking about that, I looked up and around for Khan, seeing him walking back from the kitchen with a steaming cup, tea apparently, you could see the tag of the tea bag wrapped around the cups handle, Twining's naturally. I smiled to myself and called him over, seeing him change course.

"You went through Wynter's computer right?" I asked, getting a nod in reply.

"I did"

"You didn't find any of this military encryption stuff on his computer did you?" Khan sipped his tea for a second before replying.

"No, nothing like that, while one of his hard drives is heavily encrypted behind a secure password system, I have found no evidence of military grade programming on his laptop"

"Any way of accessing whatever's on that hard drive?" He shook his head.

"I have closely consulted with our Bureau colleagues and they state that it is a double password system, requiring an as yet unknown multi-character password" He shrugged. "They tried various brute-force software tools but were unsuccessful, apparently the password requires external input, not from a keyboard but from something else" I frowned.

"I'm not following you?" Khan sat back against the desk behind him and settled in to explain.

"Most passwords require an alpha-numeric code input via the keyboard, that code can be something set by the user or something randomly generated and available to the user" I nodded, I'd had some experience with that.

"You mean those key fob things, you push a button and you get a code good for 30 seconds that's synched with the same code generator on the computer" Khan nodded.

"Exactly" I nodded slowly as I explained.

"Used that in the Bureau for a while, years ago" Khan smiled.

"Ah, I see. The key in this case, so to speak, is that Wynter's computer requires two separate sets of authentication, but neither required keyboard input, some computers use a fingerprint scanner, others require a physical key, but there was no such access device" I frowned, wondering what the hell it could be, something I asked him.

"You didn't see anything that might the key?" He shook his head once.

"Not that I recall, certainly nothing directly relevant that I remember" I frowned.

"You'd have to think it was something relatively close to hand, otherwise it would be a pain in the ass to use, and the more difficult it is, the less likely people are willing to use it" He smiled as he responded.

"True, but all indications are that Danny Wynter is a disciplined individual, he did serve after all" Seeing movement in the background I glanced that way to see Hoyt and Major Crimes' imagery guy, Buzz Watson, walk in together, talking. I called out to him

"Buzz, you got a minute?"

Two minutes later we were in the imagery room watching as a succession of stills and video flashed across screens, slowing as they settled on Wynter's office. For several minutes we watched as the camera scanned across the desk and the laptop there, the shelves and the rest of the office, but nothing stood out, as Khan said.

"I do not see anything that is likely, I can identify most of the peripherals and they are not applicable" I jumped on his hedging.

"Most?" He leaned in and pointed to one item on the desktop a goose-necked piece of black electronics.

"This one, I do not recognise it" I glanced at Buzz but he was already isolating and enlarging the image as we watched, it was black plastic, it looked like a desk lamp but too low, the light wouldn't illuminate much beyond what was directly underneath it.

"What is that?" I wondered, as Buzz swapped images, looking for a better shot. It didn't matter what image, it sat there, connected to something, you could see the cables running across the desk and down the back, but exactly what it was, none of us could tell. That was enough for me.

"It's there, so it has a function, but none of us can make it out, including our I.T. wiz here" I got nods from both of them. "I think we need to take a trip" Five minutes later we were on our way to Malibu.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Kate's viewpoint

We were sitting around the bench in the kitchen, drinking coffee and not talking much, the morning news playing unnoticed on the television in the background, all of us aware that Simmonds' deadline was only 15 hours away, release Wynter or he'd mail another body part to the media.

We turned to watch as Jane's cell went off; honestly at this point it seemed every call brought more bad news, not this time though apparently as Jane started smiling, even before she mentioned a name.

"That's fantastic Maze, where is he?" She nodded as she reached out, pointing at the table, indicating a pen. A few seconds scribbling and Jane was wrapping up. "Maze found Moore" There was a wave of smiles around the room as we stood. "She's got him in a place out at Perris"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Mac Taylor's viewpoint

A run to Wynter's house had allowed us to discover the unknown device was a scanner, the sort of thing you used to scan barcodes in a store. It was obviously important and likely to be what Wynter used to access the data locked on his computer. To that end we'd reconnected it to his laptop which we'd brought with us and booted it up, then scanned anything with a barcode in the office, only to find that nothing worked. We'd even looked inside drawers and under the table but no luck, until Khan had pointed out that there was dust around the scanner but none under it, suggesting that whatever was being scanned was portable enough to be brought to the scanner, not the other way round.

We grabbed the scanner and headed back, we were back in the murder room soon enough, talking it out with the others. Stella suggested that it had to be something that he could keep with him; if it was that important then he'd want it close at hand and safe, maybe on his cell like some of the E-Pay systems like Apple Pay. That had led to us checking out his personal effects from evidence, though I'd not anticipated anything, not until we'd emptied out the contents and a set of dog tags fell out, ones with a bar code on the back of each, something that immediately caught my eye, given the military didn't have them on theirs.

We crowded round as Khan booted up the laptop, fidgeting and shifting a bit as Windows X opened up before Khan attempted to access the secure hard drive. The 'Input Security Code' pop-up opened and he held the back of the dog tag under the scanner, a second later the pop-up changed to green and stated blandly 'Access Code Accepted'. There was a muted set of satisfied noises from everyone before a second pop-up appeared; 'Input Security Code'. Khan held the other dog tag underneath but it wasn't interested, mulishly stating 'Incorrect Code', as we sighed in frustration, before Calleigh spoke up, her sunny optimism shining through.

"Well, we're halfway there, we just have to find the second one, and from what we've seen, he liked to keep it close" There were nods at that, we were a lot closer, we just had to find the second code. The question was where, and how long would it take to find?

 **Washington DC The Pentagon**

Sarah Mackenzie's viewpoint

We'd tracked down the person who'd had carriage of the encryption software, a Navy Chief Petty Officer named Phillip Chen-See, he'd been with the Defence cyber-security team that created and upgraded the services inscription programs and he'd been the ranking NCO in the team during the period the encryption had gone missing.

That in and of itself hadn't been enough to identify him as our culprit or to bring him in but a routine scan of his periodic security assessment, undertaken because of the sensitive nature of his work, turned up a list of close associates at an earlier posting, over a decade earlier in fact.

It was a very interesting list, amongst those names had been a marine Master Gunnery Sergeant, Sonny Larson, it turned out Larson had been Chen-See's supervisor in a multi-service posting in the Pentagon over a decade earlier.

What made it truly interesting had been that amongst the other people in that office had been one Justin Simmonds, in his final 'wind-down' posting before exiting the service. He'd been assigned to the office to allow him to easily take part in the usual range of short courses and symposia for service people leaving the military, what the civilian HR people today liked to call 'offboarding'. In the meantime he'd been in charge of physical security at the office, which handled writing and maintenance of the Pentagon's procurement and logistics programs.

Running through the other people in that group included a couple of other familiar names, Joe Trimboli, David Firth and Ryan Spelling, all of whom now worked at Concord Priority Services out in California. Other names on the list included two Army NCOs, an Air Force Staff Sergeant working in the F35 program and a Coast Guard Petty Officer. All were now working in the Pentagon, many of them in the I.T. side of procurement. There were a number of others who had been in the office at the same time, but had since left the services and dropped off our radar.

Digging into Larson's history we were able to tie him to Baghdad around the same time as both Wynter and Simmonds had been there, but nothing definitive to tie them together. It was all a little flimsy, too flimsy to drag in Chen-see or any of the others and interrogate them, so instead we did what any other law enforcement organisation would do in the same circumstances, we went and got a warrant, plus I picked up the phone and called our new friends at the bureau, setting their cybernetic hounds sniffing into their lives.

That done we started looking into our new set of suspects, looking for something amiss, it didn't take long. A quick check with the Capital Police discovered that one of them, an Army Sergeant, liked expensive bikes; his latest ride was an Indian Vintage Chief motorcycle, bought less than six months ago. That in and of itself was nothing unusual, but he was paying off three apartments in Washington, living in one and renting the other two out, plus paying alimony and child support. His Sergeant's pay should have been stretched, but in addition to the Indian, he also owned a top of the line Harley less than two years old.

That right there was interesting and set us looking into the lives and spending of the rest of our suspects, it didn't take long before we started to find spending out of whack with their salaries. Something didn't add up and we were going to get to the bottom of it.

 **Los Angeles Perris**

Kate's viewpoint

Less than an hour after we left we'd ploughed through LA traffic and we were pulling up behind a nondescript dark van and exited from the Tahoe, we'd taken that as it was better to not attract any more attention than we had too. The striking dark-skinned, leather-clad woman standing in the doorway to a decrepit and somewhat isolated old house, watching us as we walked over must have been the Maze I'd heard of.

"Found him, the idiot tried to run" she said as we got closer, her head shake showed what she thought of that idiocy before she shrugged. "He didn't get far" With that she turned and led us inside what was an obviously a run-down residence. The term flop house came to mind. "I brought him out here to one of my go-to places cause there's no one in the surrounding houses" She flashed us a wicked smile. "No one close enough to hear any screams" We were led into the living area to find a somewhat dishevelled, mid-thirties well-built white guy tied to a chair, obviously Moore. I ran my eye over the ropes and nodded, he wasn't getting out of those anytime soon.

"One kidnapping scumbag, delivered" Maze noted, I looked her way as Liv spoke.

"Thanks Maze, appreciate it" Jane nodded.

"Yeah, how much do we owe you for him?" Maze shrugged.

"Given what he's done, consider this one on the house" She gave us a lopsided smile. "But expenses were three coffees and some gas" Jane looked at her.

"You sure about that Maze?" She gave a definitive nod.

"Totally…besides given what he's done absolutely no one's going to miss a low-life piece of shit like him" She cast an appraising eye over Moore where he was tied up. "Do you want me to get him to talk?" I spoke up at that.

"What makes you think he will" The smile I got was so sharp it could draw blood.

"Most people can't wait to spill everything once I get started" I frowned, seeing Liv and Jane do the same, making me ask the question.

"How?" She made an off-hand gesture as she replied.

"I find skinning him alive works just fine" Moore struggled against his ropes and yelled something unintelligible into his gag as I swallowed convulsively; she spoke like she was talking about heading down to MacDonald's for a burger… who the hell was this woman? Surprisingly it was Ana who answered.

"Thanks Maze, but I need to do this myself" Maze looked over at her.

"You sure about that girl?" A long look passed between them before Maze nodded, obviously sure of what she had seen. "Okay then, you got this so I'll leave you to it" As she turned Jane passed her a thick sheaf of fifties. "What's that for?" Jane shrugged.

"Expenses" Maze looked to the bills in her hand then up to look Jane in the eye, after a second she nodded.

"You got it" She looked between us. "Ladies, have fun" With that she turned and walked out as Jane turned to regard Moore.

"Okay, let's get started"


	80. Chapter 80

**A/N** Hi everyone, there may be a slight delay before the next chapter is uploaded as I will be travelling internationally. If I can I will post while travelling, if not, I will post when I return, in about 10 days. Cheers

Mike

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **80 In-terror-gation**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Calleigh Duquesne's viewpoint

We'd finally had a stroke of luck. A Hollywood division unit had picked up Ken Park, the fixer whose fingerprints had been retrieved from the van used in the kidnapping of Castle and the others. Horatio and I had been despatched to talk to him, being met at the Hollywood station house by an attractive blonde Homicide detective, Chloe Decker.

She'd wasted no time, introducing herself, explaining she'd been asked by Chief Johnson to look after us and shaking our hands before leading us into an interrogation room where Park was waiting. He'd tried to tough it out but we'd hit him with the fingerprints on the key lock barrel, you could see the way he'd sagged, obviously berating himself for his stupidity.

"Mister Park, you are going to jail, for grand theft auto charges at the very least, but we can hang some much more serious charges on you if we want" I'd said.

"Like fucking what?" he'd stated truculently.

"Accessory before the fact to kidnapping and potentially accessory before the fact to murder as well" I stated, seeing him blink in surprise before defaulting back to hostility to cover it.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about bitch; I don't know nothing about no kidnappings or murders" I said.

"That van you supplied was used to kidnap four people, all of them family of law enforcement personnel" Horatio nodded and followed up.

"Imagine fronting up to a judge with that hanging round your neck…" He looked across the Decker. "What do you think? 10 to 15 years?" he asked as she made a play of thinking it over.

"At least, that would be for a normal kidnapping, but given its law enforcement family we're talking about, probably another ten tacked onto the sentence right there" Park scowled.

"I don't know anything about that" I sat back and waved at him with one hand.

"Tell us what you do know, tell us something that might get you off those charges, after all stealing a car's nothing, aiding a kidnapping, and potentially a murder if they're not recovered safe and sound, that's a whole different ballgame" Horatio nodded.

"I believe here in California you call it Special Circumstances" he said, then looked to Decker. "Isn't that right Detective Decker?"

"That's right Lieutenant, a guaranteed trip to hard time, potentially life imprisonment"

"You gotta be fucking joking, I didn't know anything about no kidnapping" Park cried, obviously realising just how deep he was in here. Decker smiled.

"That's not how the law works, you do the crime, you do the time" I leaned forward.

"Unless you can convince me that you had absolutely no idea what the vehicle was going to be used for, and tell us who you sold it to" I said. It took Park all of two seconds.

"The guy's name is Tomoe Inashi, he's a fixer, works for the Yakuza, does a lot of business on the side" He looked around the three of us. "He calls me and asks for a van, one of the delivery company ones cause no one looks at them twice right?" he shrugged and continued. "I boost the van, pass it to him and then I'm in the wind, I had no idea what he was going to do with it, sure as hell nothing about no kidnapping"

"Tell me about this Inashi guy" Horatio asked.

"He's a Yak, a fixer, hangs out in Gardena cause he fits in and no one gives him up, he calls me when he wants something, I deliver, end of story, he doesn't tell me what he wants it for and I don't ask"

"Really? You don't care at all?" I asked, only to get a head shake.

"Asking too many questions isn't good for business, ask them of the wrong person and it's bad for your health, you get me?" I nodded and Horatio looked to Decker.

"Detective, given he just admitted to car theft, can you hold our friend here for 24 to 36 hours, enough for us to check out his info and chase down this Inashi guy, I don't want him feeding us a line of bull then vanishing" Decker nodded.

"Not a problem, we can keep him on ice for a while" Park looked around us, suddenly aggrieved.

"What about my phone call, I get a phone call, and I get a lawyer right?" Decker folded her arms and favoured him with her darkest scowl.

"You will, in good time, but the people who were kidnapped, using the van you provided, are my friends, maybe you should keep your mouth shut while I decide if I hit you with conspiracy charges" I nodded and backed her up.

"You better hope we get them back, otherwise its kidnapping and murder conspiracy charges and that's Special Circumstances right there"

"That wasn't me" Park protested but Horatio wasn't having a bar of it.

"If I were you Mister Park, I'd spend the next 24 hours rediscovering the power of prayer, because if we don't recover those people alive, you're looking at life on death row" He shook his head. "You'd better hope God is listening"

 **Los Angeles Perris**

Jane's viewpoint

We'd hammered away at Jerry Moore for almost an hour when we were finally interrupted by Ana; it was the first thing she'd said since we'd started.

Throughout the questioning Ana had remained silent, sitting in the corner, just staring at him, not saying a word; it was kinda unnerving to see and not like her at all, there was a growing coldness there I'd never seen before, it kept me going back again and again to what Gibbs had said, about the darkness within her.

"This is getting us nowhere" She slowly stood and walked over to where Moore was sitting. At her approach I stepped back, letting her take my place in front of him, she roughly reached down and grabbed his jaw in her hand and forced him to look up at her, searching his face for something, I don't know what. Finally she let go and stepped back, took a few steps away and retrieved her chair, setting it down a few feet in front of him and settling herself before looking round at us.

"I need a few things" Her voice was quiet, unemotional. "There's a bag in the van, could someone go get it please?" I frowned, seeing the others do the same then asked the obvious.

"Uh why?" The look I got was scary, there was no light in those eyes; they were as flat and dull as death as she took me in then spoke calmly.

"Now please Jane" I glanced at the others and saw Liv shrug, I don't know what she was gonna do, but she obviously had some plan to scare him into talking, I turned and went looking while Kate and Liv remained with them both.

Less than two minutes later I was back with a small sports bag, finding that between them they'd moved Moore, he was now tied to a concrete pillar, one of several holding up the roof, his hands and legs tied behind the pillar, I handed the items to Ana, watching as she opened it up and laid a diverse collection of gear out on the table she'd moved next to her then turned to face Moore again as I took it in.

There was a teaspoon, a butter knife, a roll of paper towel, a wad of rubber bands, a disposable lighter and some bandages, that last making me frown as Ana spoke up.,

"This is your last chance, tell us what we want to know of your own accord or else I will make you talk" Moore was unimpressed.

"I ain't gonna tell you nothing cunt, you can go fuck yourself, you can all go and get fucked" Ana regarded him impassively then turned, picking up the butter knife and the lighter. Flicking it, she moved the knife blade back and forth across the flame, then started speaking slowly, unemotionally.

"Jerome, I am going to subject you to pain, not because I want to but because I have to, you leave me no other choice. So I will cause you incredible pain until you tell me what I want to know, you will either do it before I start, or during it, but you will tell me" Moore's eyes were fixed on the blade.

"I don't gotta tell you anything" His eyes flicked around the room at each of us then back to Ana. "You're fucking bluffing bitch" The click of the lighter clicking off was loud in the small room as Ana looked up at Moore and spoke, no trace of anger in her voice, just cold, steely resolve.

"You're wrong Jerome, I'm not bluffing, I intend to inflict pain on you until you tell me what we need to know" She held the butter knife up and examined the blade, turning it to check both sides, then looking back at Moore. "I would rather not have to do this but you leave me no choice" She reached out and laid the heated blade against his cheek, causing Moore to flinch away from the sudden heat, pulling as far away as he could, given he was tied there. I saw the cheek was reddened from the contact with the hot blade and suppressed a frown.

"Fuck you cunt" he swore but Ana was unmoved, putting the knife down on the table and leaning forward to speak to him, low and calm, creepily so.

"No, that's not happening, not when I am finished with you, not ever" Moore was momentarily confused, something that showed in his next words.

'What the fuck you talking about bitch?" Ana reached forward at close range and grabbed his jaw, forcing him to look at her from a couple of inches away.

"I am going to inflict pain on you Jerome, pain like you cannot conceive, until you tell me what I want to know" I have to say Moore was holding it together well, he didn't flinch at that calm threat, instead staring right back at her, grinding out the words

"Bullshit, you think I don't know what pain is, do your fucking worst" Ana nodded.

"I intend to" Without warning Moore suddenly spat at her, the gob of spittle hitting her on the cheek. Surprisingly she didn't react, didn't show anger, instead dragging her palm across her cheek then wiping it on her jeans-clad thigh before turning away, back to the table and once again picking up the knife. Turning she walked towards Moore before reaching out and grabbing his shirt; with a single move she tore it away, sending buttons flying and exposing his torso. I didn't know what she was planning but it was making me nervous, this completely unemotional side of her was nothing like the woman I knew. Apparently I wasn't the only one as Kate spoke.

"Uh Ana, what are you going to do?" Ana didn't look at her, just partly turning her head Kate's way as she regarded Moore.

"I am going to do exactly what I promised, inflict pain" Liv swallowed and asked what we were all thinking.

"How?" Ana didn't mince words.

"I am going to geld and castrate him, remove his testicles and penis with this" She matter-of-factly held up the knife like she was talking about the weather as Moore shouted, in defiance and fear.

"Fuck you, you can't scare me cunt!" Ignoring him Ana continued.

"I am choosing a butter knife as it isn't sharp and will require more force and therefore inflict more pain while I do so. Once that is done I will remove the vast majority of his penis, leaving him with a small stump to piss with" She nodded at the table. "That's what the rubber bands and paper towels are for, tourniquets to stop him bleeding to death" I felt my eyes widen at her calm summation, what the fuck? Liv's eyes had widened and her jaw dropped, Kate obviously felt the same way.

"The hell, we can't do that!" Kate spat out. Ana was unimpressed, barely glancing her way as she answered; her attention on Moore.

"We tried it your way and it didn't work, now we do it my way" Moore had been watching us, his eyes darting from the knife to Ana to each of us and back to the knife.

"You bitch, you can't do this, you're bluffing, full of shit" Ana didn't let herself react, that unsettling calm unshaken.

"That would be where you're wrong Jerome, I can and will do it, you've left me no choice" she replied as she slowly dragged the butter knife down his chest, it wasn't sharp enough to cut him but it left a red mark fading behind it as Liv tried to talk sense to her.

"Um Ana, I don't know about this" Ana turned to look at Liv, I didn't know if the lack of any emotion in her voice was scaring Moore but sure as hell it was starting to scare me and obviously the others too. I wasn't surprised Liv had been the one to speak; she'd always been the most empathetic of us, used to dealing with the still-living, still suffering victims in SVU, whereas the rest of us were maybe a bit harder, coming from Homicide and dealing with the dead and those who had murdered them. "This isn't right; we're supposed to be the good guys, not as bad as them, as him"

"If you can't stomach what I'm going to do, leave, I can handle this" At Ana's brutal dismissal Liv exchanged a stunned look with Kate and I then replied.

"We can't torture him…" Ana shook her head once, not looking away from Moore as she replied.

"You can't, I can" She leaned forward and looked closely at Moore. "You and your friends have taken someone very important to me, you took my wife, the one person I love above any and all others; you know where she is and you are going to tell me, sooner or later" Moore must have seen something there as he flinched and turned away, looking away from her pitiless visage and speaking to the rest of us.

"You can't do this, I know who you are, you're the cops, you can't do this" There was a long silence before finally Kate shook her head.

"We were" she said as I followed her up.

"Not now though" Ana glanced at me then back at Moore and shook her head.

"Not anymore Jerome, now we're just four people trying to find the ones we love" She shrugged. "You can help us find them, you had your chance to tell us willingly, now you'll tell us unwillingly, but you will tell us" I swallowed and glanced at the others, seeing their hesitation then spoke up, putting our concerns into words.

'Uh Ana, I'm not sure about this, about what you're planning to do" Ana turned and looked at me and I nearly shook, in fear and the beginnings of horror, there was nothing in those eyes anymore, no humanity, she'd gone full-blown terminator on me; I now knew what Gibbs had meant, what he'd warned me about, the darkness had her now, I could see why Moore was terrified, looking into those eyes and seeing nothing in there but pain and suffering and agony. Finally she spoke, still calm and composed, frighteningly so given what she was describing.

"Jerome here is going to suffer until he tells me what I want to know, what we need to know, the amount of that suffering is up to him" She turned back to him, staring at him straight in the eye as she continued without emotion. "I will apply the rubber bands tightly around the base of your testicles and penis Jerome, cutting off the blood supply, before I remove them with this" She held up the butter knife for his inspection. "I will heat the blade with the lighter and use the glowing blade to cauterise the wounds so you won't bleed to death, after all you're no use to me dead, you can't talk if you're dead" She gave an inconsequential one-shoulder shrug. "It will hurt though, agonisingly, deliberately so" Moore swallowed involuntarily as he stared at her, mesmerised like a mouse staring at a snake. Ana put the knife down and picked up the spoon, brandishing it in front of him. "If after that you still haven't talked, I will use this spoon to remove your eyes from their sockets one at a time"

She shrugged as the reality of what she was suggesting hit me, she meant it, this was no bluff, she meant every damned word, I wondered if Jerome didn't believe her, something that'd be a dreadful mistake, when she was as deep in that darkness as this I could tell there was nothing she wouldn't do, no matter the cost, to get what she wanted. Ana meanwhile was still explaining what she was going to do to him.

"Once I've levered them out of their sockets, I will use more rubber bands to tie off the nerves and blood vessels to prevent you bleeding to death, then sever each eye" Ana shook her head. "Naturally I will cauterise the bleeding as I do, I expect you will talk before I get to that point, but if by then you haven't said anything, I will have to assume you are too stupid to talk despite being given every opportunity to and I will be forced to do the same to your tongue" I took in the dawning horror on Kate and Liv's faces, knowing it was mirrored on my own as Ana continued in that eerily, horrifyingly calm voice. "I will make sure you don't bleed to death, then I will have you delivered to a hospital, they will save your life, but you will have to live out the rest of your miserable existance without your penis, your eyes or your tongue" She stood up and put the spoon she was still holding back on the table and picked up the knife. Jerome was the first to respond.

"You can't, I mean, you wouldn't…" Liv was appalled.

"Ana, we can't, I mean this is vile…this isn't us" Kate was the same.

"God knows Ana, I want Castle back but this…we'll be nothing better than them" Ana slowly turned and looked at each of us as she spoke.

"I am no better than them, not now" Ana looked Kate straight in the eye as Kate swallowed. "You heard what they are going to do to Rick, they're going to kill him, when they're finished there won't even be a body to bury, nothing to mourn" She looked at Liv as she continued. "What they'll do to Nat and Maura and Alex is worse" A hint of a frown passed her eerily calm visage. "I will do whatever it takes to save them from that" I spoke up, trying to get through to her with the one thing I thought she'd respond to, Natalie.

"Ana, Nat wouldn't want you to do this; she'd be horrified at this" Ana looked at me, then at the others then back at me, her face held tightly rigid before replying flatly.

"Yes, but she has to be alive and safe to be horrified, I can live with her turning away, unable to see me after what I've done, if it means I get to save her" She turned her attention back to Jerome. "You served in Iraq didn't you Jerome?" She paused but he said nothing so she continued. "I served there, military police, investigated a lot of the crimes there, including what the most evil of the insurgents did to anyone they thought were collaborating with the allies" She shrugged. "Well that's what I'm going to do to you" She looked round at us again then spoke. "Unlike them however, I'm not going to kill you, I'll make sure you live, blind and mute and maimed. You'll live, but you won't enjoy it" I think Moore was starting to realise his predicament as he tried bravado, though it sounded hollow to me.

"Bitch, you're full of shit" Ana shook her head.

"No Jerome, you've left me no choice" She leaned forward, staring into his eyes, I don't know what he saw but the utter terror in his eyes was suddenly real. "You and your friends have kidnapped the one thing in my life that keeps me happy, loved, sane maybe. I want..." She shook her head and corrected herself. "No, I need her back, safe and well. You know where she is so I will do whatever I have to, no matter how disgusting and depraved, until you tell me" She shook her head slowly. "I expect I will be sick doing what I have to do to you, but if the choice is between you or her…"She shrugged again. "Well it's no choice really" She stood, turned back to the table and picked up the knife once more as Moore desperately stared round the rest of us, fear appearing in his eyes

"You can't let this crazy bitch do this, you can't, you're the cops, you can't do this…" I chewed my lip, unsure of what to do even as Moore spoke again. "You'll all go to jail for this, everyone will know what you've done" Ana paused and looked back over her shoulder at him, speaking calmly and all the more scary for it.

"Oh Jerome, how exactly will you tell anyone? You'll have no tongue to talk with, no eyes to guide you to write or type and even if you could make yourself somehow understood, it'd be the word of a member of a cartel that kidnaps young women as sex slaves against that of four respected law enforcement personnel" She shook her head. "Your threat is empty and without meaning, much as your life is about to become" I exchanged a horrified glance with Kate and Liv before Liv tried to reason with her again.

"Ana, there has to be another way…something other than this?" She looked to Liv and spoke, her voice still that creepy calm, her eyes dead, soulless pits.

"We have tried that, to no avail, Jerome here doesn't seem to understand that if it's his life for Natalie's and the others, well he is expendable" Moore looked from one of us to the next, his wide-eyed look showed he'd realised that Ana was utterly and deadly serious as he tried to convince us to stop her.

"You can't let her do this, you're the cops, you got rules, you can't do this" Ana looked back at him, her voice sharp, the first emotion she'd shown.

"You didn't think about the rules when you kidnapped them did you Jerome?" Her mouth tightened, something like anger started to seep through that iron control of hers. "You didn't think about the rules when you agreed to sell the woman I love to be a sex slave to some rich Arab bastard to rape over and over again did you?" She leaned in and stared at him from a few inches as she ground out the words. "Do not talk to me about the rules Jerome, before I decide to take a few more things from you as well, after all it's not like you'll need your hands when I'm finished with you" Appalled, Liv again tried to reach her.

"But we'll be no better than they are, if we do this, we've become them" Ana shrugged once as she leaned back and looked over at her as she spoke.

"You're not doing it; I am. This way we have a chance to get all four back safely; if I lose Natalie so you can get Alex and Maura and Rick back safely and she lives, then that's a price I'll pay" Ana grimaced, a hint of real pain in her face as she paused, then continued on. "If I lose Natalie because of what I do here today, well at least she'll be alive to hate me, I'd rather that than we lose all four of them" I saw the realization hit both Kate and Liv that Ana meant it, she was willing to give up everything to save Natalie, to save the others so we could get them back, she'd sacrifice everything.

"But this…" It was Kate, trying again to reach her. "It's wrong..."

"Kate, remember how you felt when you saw Rick's finger in that box, when you saw what they did to him?" Kate nodded reluctantly. "This animal is one of the people responsible, he would have been one of the people who killed Rick and destroyed his body" She looked at Liv and I. "He would have been one of the people who handed the others over to be sold as sex slaves to some rich bastard in a third world hell-hole, all without a qualm" She stared at Kate. "If I have to give up my soul to stop that, so you don't have to, I will" Kate chewed her lip for a second, real pain on her face before she spoke again.

"But this makes us as bad as they are" Ana was unmoved, something her words confirmed.

"No, it makes me as bad as them but at least the others will be alive" Ana paused, then continued on. "If that's the price I have to pay, I will, for Natalie's sake, for Alex's, for Maura's and for Rick's"

Kate stood there for a moment, the conflict inside her playing out on her face before it hardened up as she came to a decision. With a single nod she turned and walked out, leaving Liv and I staring after her, then at each other. Liv was the next to try and reach her.

"Ana, we can't do this, it's becoming like them" Ana just looked at her as I saw Liv swallow, her eyes widening she'd just truly realised the soulless monster she was dealing with here as Ana spelled it out.

"They will hurt Alex to get what they want, Wynter's message made that clear. Then, when they have what they want, his freedom, they will sell her to the animals in the Cartels, probably after using her themselves" Ana's jaw hardened and her voice if anything grew colder. "We've seen what the Cartel is capable of against women who hurt their operations, what they did to Adoria Morena was beyond understanding" Her head tipped slightly as she regarded Liv. "Do you honestly believe that they will treat Alex any more kindly?"

Olivia stood there for a moment, her moral compass waging war with her love for Alex, It was no contest really, I already knew which would win; there was silence for almost 30 seconds as the battle played out on Liv's face before her jaw tightened, decision made. Without a word Liv glanced at Moore and shook her head pityingly then back to Ana.

"Make it quick okay, we need to find them soon" With that she turned and followed Kate out of the room. We watched them go before Ana turned back to Moore as he stared at her and spoke, his voice soft, like he was trying not to antagonize her, not realising it was too late for that.

"Why are you doing this? Why?" Ana's voice was that creepy quiet.

"I served in Iraq Jerome, saw things there that ate away at my soul, lost people I cared about" She shook her head as she continued. "I lost all hope there Jerome, no hope for the future, for a better life, for happiness and joy and love" She turned to look straight at him. "A life without hope is a life not worth living, so I didn't want to, keep living that is, so I took every dangerous op, every risky mission, the first one through the door and point on every sweep" She shook her head once then continued, her voice still that unemotional, scary calm. "Unfortunately god had already decided it wasn't my time, I came out of Iraq still alive, hopeless but alive. I existed, I functioned, but I wasn't living" I swallowed at the pain I knew she was feeling as Ana continued. "Then I met someone, someone special, she filled me up with happiness, with joy, she loved me and gave me a reason to hope again, hope for a better life, for a life where I could be happy and loved and love her, a normal life" Ana shook her head slowly, then leaned forward until she was barely a few inches from his face. "Then you and your friends took that away from me again Jerome. You took my hope, my life, my wife away, and that's something I'm going to make you regret for the rest of your life" His wide-eyed, terrified expression would have been pitiful but there was no pity in Ana, not anymore.

"Hey, I didn't know about that it was just a job, I didn't know any of that" Ana was unmoved.

"Details, you know where she is and won't tell me" Ana leaned back and regarded him for a moment, then spoke again. "I know what your people have planned for her, for all of them..." She nodded in my direction. "So do they, so if you think they'll lift a finger trying to stop me to preserve your worthless, miserable existence, you are wrong" She picked up the knife again and turned it in her hand as the light reflected off the blade. "You've taken away my hope Jerome, so I'm going to take away yours. I'll take away your eyes, your tongue and your manhood, leaving you a despised, crippled object of pity" She glanced at him and then back at the knife. "I'll leave you your ears so you can hear all the whispered comments, the pity, the condescension, the annoyed comments from the nurses and orderly's who have to wash you, feed you, take you to the bathroom, clean you up afterwards, dress you and care for you" She shook her head once, slowly, then spoke, like she was pronouncing sentence.

"Your life without hope starts in this room Jerome, your journey starts here at my hands" Moore was starting to break down as the true fate he was facing sank in.

"You can't, please, no, you can't" Ignoring his pleas Ana tilted her head to regard him dispassionately then spoke.

"See Jerome, there you hope that an appeal to my better nature, to my pity, will work, I don't have any hope any more, you took that away from me so now I'm going to take it away from you"

Slowly Ana brought the blade closer and closer to Moore's cheek as he frantically leaned away, trying to get away from her, as much as his bonds would allow. His shriek as the edge approached his cheek was pitiful as Ana spoke in that cold, clear, chilling voice.

"Let's get started" Moore frantically tried to pull his face further away, the tendons on his neck standing out as he did.

"No, no, you can't, you can't!" Ana was unimpressed

"Yes I can" I noticed that the groin of Moore's jeans were wet, he'd pissed himself in fear. That did it, I couldn't allow this; I'd thought I could but this was wrong, this wasn't a man, it was a broken wreck. Taking a step forward I grabbed Ana's wrist, trying to pull the knife away.

"Ana, no" She held firm, I'd always been a little stronger than her but I was having trouble budging her as she turned to stare into my eyes.

"Jane, if you can't do what has to be done, that's okay, I don't expect you to, you're a much better person than me, but if this is what it takes to get them back, to get Natalie back, Alex, Maura too, then I'm prepared to do what's necessary"

"Ana, you do this; it's like you cross some kind of line…" I remembered a phrase I'd read before somewhere. "You'll cross the moral event horizon, there's no coming back from something so...so...irredeemably evil" She nodded and for a second I saw something in her eyes, it was gone the next instant.

"I know, but if it gets Natalie and Maura and the others back, well that's a price I'll pay willingly"

I saw the dark resolve in her eyes, I couldn't reason with her like this, she was determined to do whatever was needed, I remembered Gibbs statement. ' _When she's like that_ _she'll kill anyone in front of her, so_ _don't get between_ _her and that target_ ' For a few more seconds she stared at me, it was like looking into the eyes of the some of the killers I'd arrested, no humanity there, only evil and death and agony as I realised that wasn't my friend there, not now.

With that said she turned, pulling her arm from my weakened grip, placing the knife on the table then reached out and started unbuckling his jeans, that must have done it for Moore, the last sign Ana was utterly serious.

"Wait, wait, please wait, I'll do it" Ana paused, her head tilting to one side as she regarded him dispassionately.

"Yes?"

"They're being held in a warehouse down in Fullerton by the railway, all of them" Ana was singularly unimpressed, something she made brutally clear.

"Jerome, if you are lying to me, I will come back here and do everything I promised, only I'll take my time and make it last as long as I can, do you understand me?" He nodded frantically, eyes like saucers.

"Yeah, they're there, all three of the women and the guy, they're all there" I snapped my fingers loudly to get his attention away from Ana, without success; he was fixated on her like a rat staring at a cobra, mesmerised in sheer stark terror.

"I need an address, plus how many people are there guarding them?" He heard me but didn't look away from Ana.

"Yeah, sure, there's a rotating roster of around six or eight people most of the time, more when the shift changes" I nodded and pressed him.

"What's the address?" He quickly rattled off the address.

"Unit 6, 1312 East Valencia Drive, it's an industrial park out in Fullerton" I stepped in to take charge of it, calling Kate and Liv back into the room then turned back to him.

"What are they armed with?"

Ten minutes later we'd got all we needed, enough to know that we'd have a hard fight in front of us.

"How do we know you're telling us the truth?" At my question he tore his eyes away from where Ana was staring balefully at him like a hawk eyeing up a rat and stared at me, eyes wide.

"My phone, on the table there, it's got pictures" I retrieved his phone and following his instructions unlocked it and searched through the gallery, the most recent images had Maura and the others handcuffed to a pipe low down against a wall. Maura looked tired and miserable and dirty but she was alive and this bastard had known about it and tried to keep her from me. For a moment I felt pure rage surge through me, I just wanted to shoot this useless, evil mother fucker, ending his life and the misery he'd caused her. I shook with anger for a few seconds, I could see myself placing the barrel of my gun between his eyes and pulling the trigger, before getting myself under control and tamping down on it, turning away from him and passing the phone to the others as I got myself back under control, seeing them react much the same way.

The look in Kate's eyes when she saw the bandages around Rick's hand was murderous, for a split second the match for Ana's. Her hand lashed out and whipped across his face, the crack loud in the room before she got herself under control and took a step back, her hand coming up to point at Moore who had blood starting to trickle down his chin from the split lip her backhander had given him.

"By rights I should kill you right now" It was a brave Liv who reached out and rested a hand on hers and spoke quietly,

"We don't kill helpless people, he's evil and stupid and an accomplice, but he's not yours to kill Kate" Liv shook her head. "His life's mistakes will catch up with him soon enough, he'll pay his penance then, but that's not your call here and now" Kate looked from Liv to Moore and shook her head slowly, even as I could see her calming down. Ana was the last, her eyes came up from the screen's images and the look she gave Moore should have killed him then and there. When she spoke her voice was deadly calm.

"Jerome, if you've lied to me about their location I will come back here. If you have lied about anything at all I will come back here, do you understand me?" Moore nodded jerkily. "This was business, something I had to do, but if they are not where you say, I will return and what I do to you will be because I want to, and I'll make sure I enjoy every long, agonising second of it, I will do it all slowly because I will like inflicting as much pain as possible on you, do you understand me?" she stated, drawing another jerky nod, quite clearly petrified of her and with good reason. The room was silent for a few seconds before Kate turned to me and asked the question.

"What do we do with him?" I looked at Moore then to Ana who shrugged then turned back to him and spoke quietly.

"I am going to leave you here, I'll partly cut your bonds so with work you should be able to get free in a few hours, long enough for us to check out your information and get back to you if you've lied to me" She paused then continued. "I hope for your sake you have not lied…" Moore started frantically shaking his head as she leaned in.

"I swear, it's all true, everything…everything" he whimpered.

"Because if you have there will be truly…unpleasant…consequences for you" She left that dire thought hanging in the air as Moore gabbled frantically.

"No, it's true, they're there, they all are, honest" Ana regarded him for a moment then spoke.

"If you have the slightest shred of self-preservation left in you, when you get free you will run, as far and as fast as you can from Los Angeles. If you stay in LA I will find you. If you try and contact your associates, I will find you and if I am forced to find you, I will do everything I promised and more, I will do it slowly, painfully and take all the time in the world doing it, do you understand me?" Moore nodded slowly, the terror in his eyes easily seen. "Then when you get out of here, start running, don't stop till you find some backwoods town in the middle of nowhere and hide, hide so deep that god himself won't find you, because if I do need to come and get you, I will find you and I assure you that you won't like the results" Ana stood and picked up the butter knife and walked round the back of the pillar Moore was tied to, sawing at his bonds with the knife for a few seconds, then stood.

"That should give way after a few hours of hard work, after that, well the choice is yours" She walked round his left side and paused, gently dragging the tip of her knife down his cheek, parallel to the four scab lines running down one cheek. "Tell me, how did you get these Jerome, I'm curious" She used the tip of the knife to dig slightly under the end of one of the scabs, flicking it away. "They look like scratches from fingernails" Moore looked round from her to me, then back to her, wetting his lips. "Yes Jerome?" She dug a little more of the scab off and flicked it away as a thin trickle of blood started down his cheek.

"My girlfriend, she got carried away the other night, accidentally scratched me in the sack, that's all" Ana stood there staring at him for a long time then finally spoke.

"Remember what I said Jerome, when you finally get out of your bonds, vanish and pray you never, ever see me again" She shrugged then continued. "If you do see me again I guarantee that my face will be the last thing your eyes will ever see"

He nodded slowly as Ana turned and, with a single fluid move of strength, impaled the knife in the tabletop, leaving it standing upright there, the knife vibrating slightly as she walked away, Kate and Liv shared a long look before turning and following her out the door. I looked down at Moore's broken face and spoke; I'd never spoken truer words in my life.

"Don't even think of doing something stupid, next time I won't be here to stop her" I looked to the door Ana had just walked out of and then back to him. "I don't even think I could" I shook my head and leaned forward a little, the better to see into his eyes. "If you've lied to us, I wouldn't even try"

He nodded and let his gaze drop as I turned and walked away.


	81. Chapter 81

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **81 Preparations**

 **Los Angeles Perris**

Kate's viewpoint

Leaving the house and its pathetic occupant behind us we drove off, the car was silent for a while before I looked to where Jane was driving.

"Do we head to this Fullerton place?"

"Yeah, we'll do a drive by, check it out, see if Moore was straight with us" She pause for a second then continued. "Pretty sure he was" I glanced at Ana, sitting there staring out the side window, wondering about what I'd seen back inside that house, what was lurking inside her, then replied to Jane.

"Yeah, me too" The rest of the drive was quiet.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Woody Hoyts viewpoint

I have to say when Jordan and I had got permission to attend LEAFCon I'd never imagined where we'd end up. This investigation was amazing, so many senior, experienced people, all working the same case with nation-wide ramifications. Jordan had been almost giddy meeting so many people who were considered legends in her field, she'd excitedly relayed everything she'd learned each night back at the hotel when we'd wrapped up for the day, she'd been so excited and happy, it had been fantastic to see.

Me, I'd just been glad to work up close to so many experienced cops, Taylor and Booth and Flynn and Caine and Provenza had achieved so much and some of the way they thought about the case had been really interesting, there was so much to learn.

Then there was Chief Johnson. I'd wondered when I'd first seen her how a little Southern woman had risen to her position, she seemed so nice and polite and all, not what I thought someone so senior was like, not really, but she'd not only managed her team really well, but quickly brought everyone into the Task Force, treated everyone the same and welding us into a coherent team, all while leading from the front.

What wasn't apparent in her at first sight was her determination to send criminals to jail, she'd sent so many to prison, including the worst of the scum, despite threats and attacks and everything she'd remained focused on doing the right thing no matter what.

This case was like that, Simmonds had tried everything, bombs, attacks, then the kidnappings, all he'd done had been make a mortal enemy of the Chief and every cop here. I sometimes wondered if he realised what he'd done, but thinking on it, probably not, his psychological profile from the people at the Bureau's BAU had been pretty scary reading. Simmonds was borderline psychopath, it was all about him, other people's lives meant nothing to him; he had a mean streak a mile wide and vindictive with it.

His kidnapping of Doc Isles, Miss Cabot and Miss Dearing, plus that writer, Castle, was a public manifestation of that. He'd shaken the hornet's nest with a big hit, uncaring of the trouble he was buying, probably certain he could handle it and get away clean, the arrogant idiot. Not only had he pissed off cops everywhere, he'd made mortal enemies of Rizzoli and the others.

Now they were out there, cut loose. I'd heard of Rizzoli before, I mean there wasn't a cop in Massachusetts who hadn't. She had a huge rep for the cases she'd solved, the monsters she'd beaten, people like the Surgeon, plus the pain that her life had brought her. You could still see the scars on her hands from his work, plus she'd nearly died during that attack on the BPD building from a gunshot wound through her stomach, one she'd inflicted on herself to take out the guy holding her when he threatened Maura. The woman was relentless, a 'determinator' as one old cop had described her, she'd push through any obstacle to solve a case, watching her I'd seen that in her; the stories about her were pretty amazing, if anything the reality was even more impressive.

Now the woman she loved was missing, taken by Simmonds. Jordan had been frantic with worry for Maura, she really looked up to her, someone to admire and emulate; helped by the fact that Maura was one of the nicest, kindest people you'd ever meet. Jane was out there, off the task force and hunting Simmonds I guessed, I wondered if he realised what he'd done. She'd killed a guy by putting a bullet through her own stomach to protect Maura, god help Simmonds.

He'd be in trouble anyway, but he'd taken the others too, making mortal enemies of all four women. After they'd been kicked off the task force by that Chief Pope guy; a dumb move that one, Mac Taylor had explained what he knew of both Beckett and Benson. Taylor wasn't the sort of man to be impressed by anyone easily, but it was obvious that he deeply respected both of them, that kid sex ring they'd broken had been horrific but he'd been up front, while it had been a team effort, it had been Benson and Beckett's case to crack open.

I didn't know much about Romanov, but the guys here had been full of praise for her work out in the field, and given all three other woman trusted her implicitly, well recommendations didn't come much better than that.

Simmonds had gone out of his way to make enemies, god help him. With those four after him, if we didn't recover the hostages safe and well, I don't think even god could, should or even would help him.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Ana's viewpoint

The industrial park was as quiet as you'd expect on a Sunday, pretty much everything was closed.

We'd left the car out on the street and quickly moved into the complex, taking care to stay out of the view of unit 6. Finally getting a clear view we took it in, given everything else was closed it made the group of cars and a couple of 4x4's and SUVs parked in front of the building stand out. It was a stand-alone two story warehouse / office building, a few windows, mostly on the upper floor, a main door and roller shutter for loading large items and a few fire doors, no business name to be seen, just a big '6' on the front of the building, about as anonymous as you could find, which made it close to perfect for Simmonds use..

After a quick discussion we scattered, the others heading from cover to cover towards the other three sides of the building while I headed for the nearest high point, I needed to get to a point I could see inside and scope it out, the others were counting on me. Finding a fire escape to a likely building I slung the telescopic scope in its case over my shoulder and down my back, less likelihood of hooking it up on anything as I moved. Reaching the roof I unslung it then made my way to the edge of the building, uncasing the scope and started scanning, using the high powered scope and slowly checking every inch of this side of the building, before finally contacting the others via radio.

"Nothing on this side, moving" Kate's voice, soft and full of tension came through the earpiece.

"Understood" A few minutes and two more fire escapes got me to another rooftop where I started scanning again. I could see the main entrance, closed but the window next to it had a patch that had been scraped clean, giving someone inside an unimpeded view of the car park and the area approaching the door.

"Heads up, the window next to the main door's got paint missing, scraped away; it's probably a vision access port"

"Anyone visible?" It was Liv. I took my time, scanning each of the vehicles as well as the front of the building. Finally I spoke.

"No, no one, nothing visible elsewhere so moving to the next side" Jane came up on the circuit.

"Moving up to the front" Looking down I could see her moving carefully, back to the wall and ducking below each painted over window so no one inside saw a shadow pass, I found myself nodding, good field craft, especially from someone not trained for urban combat, but then no one had ever accused Jane of being stupid. Seeing her take up position in cover near the main door I moved again. Six minutes later, having made my way over two roofs and a side alley I was in position. A preliminary scan showed a group of windows on the upper floor that hadn't been painted over.

"Anything?" It was Jane. I was bit pre-occupied, as my terse answer showed.

"Scanning" Jane wasn't happy.

"Scan faster, my ass is hanging out here where I can be seen" I smiled humorlessly as Liv chided her.

"Patience padawan" Jane's response was immediate, as was my slight head shake.

"Fuck patience, and fuck padawan too" Before I could say anything I saw movement through one window, a Caucasian guy, cropped brown hair, big, muscled, jeans, warm jacket, carrying what looked like a stack of TV dinner meals and bottles of water on a tray appeared in a doorway.

"Wait one, movement visible" As I watched, he bent down, handing a meal out four times, each time followed by a plastic fork. I could see a hand reach up from below the level of the windowsill and take each meal, the guy then tossed four bottles of water out to somewhere below my sightline under the window, I couldn't see much more, though I noted the guy was sporting an automatic pistol in a shoulder holster, visible as he moved his arm before he turned and walked out, pulling the door shut behind him as I keyed the mike.

"Okay, just saw four pre-packaged meals and water delivered to a room on the upper floor, couldn't see who but the angle suggests they are on the floor against the outer wall"

"No identification?" I unconsciously shook my head at Kate's question then spoke.

"No, possibly feminine hand, not enough time to confirm" Liv spoke up.

"What now?" I grimaced, they weren't going to like what I was about to suggest.

"We pull back and observe"

"What?" It was Jane, marginally quicker than Kate.

"You're joking right?"

"No, we observe, see if I can get an I.D. on the hostages, see if they separate them for toilet breaks, how many guards there are, try and get a pattern and make sure we can safeguard the hostages, plus we wait until after shift change, that way we know exactly how many hostiles are there, then we go in" It took a bit of convincing, but they eventually gave in and one by one joined me on the roof.

Over the next hour we took turns watching through the scope, Kate was on duty when another guy opened the door and walked in. She described what was happening as we waited, he crouched down and did something before standing, dragging Alex to her feet and into view. He had her hands handcuffed in front of her as he guided her out the door and to the left.

"What do you think?" It was Liv, her voice full of fear. I shook my head even as Jane spoke.

"Could be anything, anything at all" I desperately tried to keep my mind away from what the worst of 'anything' might mean, before Kate spotted a light come on behind frosted glass about thirty feet along the wall.

"Bathroom break you think?" said Jane, drawing a nod from me as Kate replied.

"Looks like" She passed the scope over and looked to Liv. "Take over, you'll get to see her when they come back" I nodded, Liv needed that, we all did. Ten minutes later she watched as Alex was led back into the room and forced down below the line of the window, the guy doing something else before Maura appeared.

Jane took Liv's place as Maura repeated the same routine, then Nat and Rick, we each swapped the scope around in time to see our lovers as they were led back in, my heart racing as I saw Natalie, she looked tired and disheveled and scared and all I wanted to do was get in there and kill everyone between her and me, just so I could hold her and make her safe again.

Finally Rick was returned to his position under the wall and the Latino–looking guy finished securing him there, I mean it was obvious in retrospect, before standing and walking out.

"Okay, bathroom break starting at 1.00" I summarised, continuing. "Only one guy so they're confident that none of the prisoners is capable of a fight, plus he's almost certainly armed, the guy handing out lunch sure was" Liv nodded and looked to me.

"That wasn't the same guy you saw earlier?" I shook my head.

"No, different one" Kate spoke up.

"It looks like they're handcuffed to something down low, a pipe maybe; they must have them cuffed with one hand, allowing them to eat with the other" There was general agreement about that; it matched the images on Moore's phone and Simmonds' video. One good thing, it placed them down and out of the line of fire.

We spent another hour talking desultorily back and forth as we continued taking turns watching, until we were disturbed by the sound of car engines. Looking down we saw first one, then more cars arrive, in the end ten men in six cars arrived, parking in the car park and moving inside. Checking the time it was two pm, shift change I surmised.

The men, they were all men, got out and walked over to the warehouse where they were greeted by another man at the doorway. The newcomers walked in and the door shut. About five minutes later another group, nine guys this time, walked out and got into their cars and left. We confirmed our count and watched a while longer.

"Shift change" Liv stated, drawing nods from us as Kate spoke.

"Assume eight or so hours, that means the next shift change is ten tonight" There were nods at that and quiet for a while before she spoke again. "Ten people inside, that's going to be tough for just the four of us" I narrowed my eyes, taking in the lay of the land, already thinking through scenarios as Liv shook her head.

"We can't call it in anonymously; the LAPD would go into the usual hostage situation SOP, surround the place and try to negotiate…"

"Which means the hostages become bargaining chips" Jane shook her head. "No way" I had been sitting there considering what I'd seen before I looked round then spoke.

"I have a way to cull their numbers"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

I looked up at the noise to see some of the team returning, they'd been following a lead on the fixer, Tomo Inashi, a C.I. to the local cops had given up an alias he used, Minase Furataka, and a search had turned up a credit card in that name being used to order food for delivery to an address in Gardena.

"Detectives, what is the story on Mister Inashi, AKA Mister Furataka?" Flynn handled my question.

We checked out Inashi's place but he's gone, flown the coop" I frowned, that was not what I wanted to hear.

"Do we have any idea of exactly how long?" Andy shrugged as Stella Bonasera answered.

"No, but it can't have been too long ago, there was a local paper with yesterday's date in the apartment" I frowned as I mentally pushed and pulled at the pieces, trying to make them fit. Flynn pressed on. "Another thing Chief..." I looked his way and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes Lieutenant?"

"I think someone got to him first, the lock on his door had been busted, someone had obviously kicked the door in, plus the door to the balcony was open and stuff knocked down like someone had knocked it over as they ran through there" Andy said as Stella Bonasera jumped in to back him up.

"Whoever it was kicked it hard enough that they not only broke the lock, they broke the security chain" She shrugged. "I figure someone kicked the door in, Inashi bolted and they went after him, given the place was still open, I'd say they caught him"

"They…?" I prompted. Andy shrugged.

"I figure somebody found a lead to our missing people, turned up, kicked the door in and chased him down, then dragged him off" He looked around the room. "The list of potential suspects isn't that large and I'm guessing we know whose top of that list"

"If it is them…" Calleigh started saying, only to be interrupted by Booth who had wandered over.

"If?" It was Taylor who broke the silence.

"I don't know Rizzoli and Romanov that well really, but from what I saw of Beckett and Benson on that case we all worked on back home last year, yeah, they're not going to sit at home on their hands, waiting for us to solve this case" Provenza grimaced.

"I'll tell you this; you don't stand between Rizzoli and something important, now it's Maura and the others…" He shook his head. "God help anyone in her way" Booth nodded.

"If I was in their place and it was Brennan they'd taken…" He shook his head. "Honestly, I can't find it in me to object to what they're doing" Hoyt backed him up.

"If it was Jordan…nope, me neither" Calleigh shook her head slowly then spoke.

"So Beckett, Benson, Rizzoli and Romanov are out there, Pope cut them loose and they're hunting on their own" Flynn grimaced a little at the thought before he looked round at us all.

"If it is them they seem to be one step ahead of us" Khan looked at me and spoke.

"If it is them?" At my look he fidgeted before continuing, his voice quiet. "It may not be" I shook my head.

"Detective, knowing Rizzoli, Romanov and Benson like I do, they will stop at nothing to get their partners back" I grimaced at the thought of them on their own, on the rampage... "...and when you add Beckett into the mix... she's cut from the same cloth, together they'll do whatever is needed"

"What can we do to stop them?" It was Horatio Caine. At my look he pulled a face. "I mean I understand that they won't sit still and do nothing but at the moment they're basically acting as vigilantes" I sighed, then replied.

"How precisely do we stop them Lieutenant?" I shook my head. "We have nothing to pin on them, just a few suspicions, which any competent lawyer would poke holes in in five minutes flat. Given they have decades of experience between them, I doubt they've left anything, certainly no clues we could find to use against them anyway" I turned to Khan. "Do we know where they are at the moment?" He looked surprised for a second then spoke up.

"I believe they are staying at that house that Olivia and Alexandria have rented in Malibu " I nodded, it figured, given the low density of housing out there it would be much harder to undertake surveillance undetected of a place like that than either Jane's house in Westwood or Ana's apartment downtown, something that I'm sure they'd already taken into account. The more I thought about it the more likely it seemed that they were out there conducting their own investigation, one not as... the niceties of the law. I shook my head slowly, as I'd pointed out there was little we could do to stop them, not without something like proof, none of which we had. ' _God damn you Will Pope!_ ' Looking round the team I spoke.

"At the moment they're doing everything they can to get their partners back, which will constrain them a little. If they can't get them back safe and well..." I paused and looked round the room, seeing a lot of understanding in the eyes I met. "God help anyone involved in their kidnapping, if they're lucky we might get to them first, if not..." I left it there, everyone knew what I meant.

Rizzoli, Benson, Beckett and Romanov were some of the most impressive, capable people I'd ever met, the thought of them off the leash and out for bloody vengeance didn't bear contemplating.

"All we can do is get to the kidnappers before they do, so on that note, what do we have?" Taylor looked to me.

"I do have some good news" I nodded.

"Then please be good enough to share your good news Lieutenant, god knows it's been thin on the ground in this case" He nodded and led me over to Khan's computer who got busy and opened up a window, showing a log in screen.

"We got lucky" I raised an eyebrow as I looked down at the screen. I looked back up and he continued. "I was looking over the evidence photos again and I noticed that Wynter's dog tags had a bar code on the back of them, something the military doesn't do" I nodded, waiting. "Wondering why, I kicked it around with a couple of the others and we went back to Wynter's place" He gestured to a scanner on the desk next to the laptop. "Looking around we found a barcode scanner. With help from Detective Khan here we were able to clone Wynter's laptop onto a new machine, connect up the scanner then scan the barcode which acted as both a link and a passcode to a location on the Dark Web" Caine gestured to Khan and took over.

"Detective Khan scanned it in and we tried getting in, but we failed" I tipped my head to look at him.

"Indeed?" He waved at the computer screen as Khan held a set of dog tags under the scanner, in response the log in screen changed, then asked for a second code. Ahmed looked up at me.

"The bar code is part of the security code for the computer" He held up his hand before I could speak. "It's half of the key, we need to locate the second barcode to unlock the computer" He shrugged. "We have thoroughly searched the Malibu property but no luck so far" I nodded and smiled, while not yet successful they'd made real progress.

"Well done detectives, excellent work indeed. Please turn your attention to locating that second access code, we need the information there badly" I chewed the inside of my cheek for a moment then continued. "Please ask for any resources you need" I glanced up at the clock, it was almost 3 PM, less than 9 hours till Simmonds' deadline. "We are running out of time"

I got grim nods all round at that.

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Kate's viewpoint

I looked up as Hayley Shipton walked into my room in response to my phone call and stopped dead, taking me in. The black tactical clothes I was wearing, bought with cash on the way back, the boots, the tactical gloves and the weapons on the dresser in front of me told her everything she needed to know. She took it all in then looked up at me.

"What's all this then?" she asked rhetorically as I shrugged, not as nonchalantly as I was hoping for.

"We have a lead on where they are so we're going in to get them" The look on her face was pure satisfaction.

"When do you leave?" I waved at the stuff in front of me.

"In the next half-hour" I looked over to her. "I know it will be, but is everything in place?" She nodded.

"Alexis and I got all the assets in place yesterday afternoon. I've got the addresses for the two alternate vehicle swap sites, so whichever way you go you'll have transport" I nodded, this wasn't Hayley's first rodeo and it showed, her contributions to the plan meant we had a much better chance of pulling this off unscathed and getting away clean. "Alexis got the voice distorter from an electronics shop and the storage unit's been hired for a month" She passed for a moment then continued. "The mobile phones are downstairs, all charged up and programmed with each other's numbers, and the keys to the vans are with them. I nodded as I pulled my gloves on; she and Alexis had done well, mind you I'd expected nothing less.

"Thanks Hayley, we're heading right back out" I reached out and picked up a slip of paper, handing it to her. "Here's the address" She took it and nodded.

"We'll get going right after you" She pulled out her phone and did a quick search then nodded. "Alternate two is the better site; it's almost on the way back from there to here"

I nodded distractedly as I checked the action on the Glock, inserted a magazine of hollow points and slipped it into its holster, slid the knife into the scabbard on the other side then fed the remaining magazines into the holders on the belt, then looked up.

"Time to go" She nodded, watching as I grabbed a plastic bag with a change of clothes and then followed me out. Less than two minutes later everyone was gathered in the corridor in front of the elevator down to the underground car park, our eyes checking each other over as Hayley and Alexis watched. Finally Ana nodded, satisfied that we were ready. She was the small unit tactics expert, so she was tactical lead on this mission.

"We're good to go" At her comment Alexis nodded before grabbing me and pulling me into a tight hug, desperately so.

"Bring him home to me Kate" I nodded, squeezing her tight. Alexis was holding it together well, but this was her dad we were talking about.

"We will, I promise' She let go and stepped back, looking up into my eyes and spoke.

"I'll hold you to that" she said as I nodded, before Hayley stepped up and held her hand out, nodding once as we shook, then the others as well. Running her eyes over each of us she gave us a professional's appraisal before nodding; she didn't waste words.

"You're ready" She smiled, feral and dangerous. "Go give them hell"


	82. Chapter 82

As always, the characters here are the creation of their respective rights holders and the wonderful actors and actresses who bring them to life for us. Thanks to the powers that be for letting us play with them, if only for a while.

 **Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **82 The warehouse**

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Anastasia's viewpoint

"I'll kick it off once you're in position, If it's at all possible I'll try and time it with a freight train that passes, that way they may hear the shattering glass or they may not but there's still a chance the target may make enough noise to alert them" I shrugged, there were no certainties in combat. "I'll try and prevent it but no promises" Liv spoke up.

"At this range will they hear the shot?" I carefully shook my head once and spoke, not taking my eye off the building through the scope. We were back in position on the top of the building that let us look over at the warehouse, offering a view into the room that Natalie and the others were being held in though we hadn't seen them yet

"With the noise suppressor fitted it's unlikely; the noise isn't usually a thing at this range" Kate's voice was curious.

"Won't the suppressor affect the accuracy?" I nodded once; it was a good question,

"At a thousand meters maybe, but at this range, not enough to notice, the target effect won't be modified by the suppressor, anyone I hit is out of the fight for good" Liv's voice came to me.

"I suppose" I looked up and round at her, looking for weakness, for a lack of commitment, but seeing only sorrow and regret. Jane must have seen it too as she spoke up, her voice quiet, while I went back to scanning the building.

"I know you're not on board with this Liv, not totally, but we don't know enough about what we're going into to dick around, we have to hit them and hit them hard, hit them so they stay down, if that means killing them…well they knew what they were doing when they kidnapped Alex and the others" I took my eyes away from the scope for a second to look at each of them then spoke.

"I brought this along for one reason, whatever I fire at is going to die, either from the shock or the blood loss, no ifs or buts" I glanced over at Jane. "Jane's seen the results of a Barrett anti-material rifle on a human body, she'll attest to the effects; this is only 7.62 mill, not 50 caliber, but they're 300 Winchester Magnum rounds, at this range with the ammunition I'm firing they'll deliver similar results on the target" Jane nodded once.

"She's right; if it's anything like a Barrett it'll likely kill whoever's on the receiving end, no taking chances, they're probably just dead" Kate nodded and rested her arm on Liv's.

"They're right Liv, we go in there and take them down, we can't let anyone get to them; they may try and use the hostages as shields, or maybe threaten them to make us surrender" Jane nodded and spoke, her voice calm but quietly intense.

"Which, if it came down to it, we would" She paused then continued. "Besides, from what we've seen so far Maura and Alex and the others have seen their faces and like the saying goes, dead witnesses tell no tales" She shook her head. "We can't risk it" Slowly Liv nodded, then reached back and retrieved the Glock she was carrying, carefully she dropped the magazine carrying full metal jacketed rounds out and racked the action to eject the round already loaded, angling the Glock so it hit the ground next to her. She retrieved the round and pushed it into the magazine then slid it into a magazine holster loop on her belt, swapping it for another magazine, the hollow-point bullets easily seen, sliding it into her Glock and racking the action to load the first round.

I looked up and saw the sky starting to darken slightly; we had probably another hour and a half or so of light left. The others saw it and followed my gaze, Jane and Kate nodding before Jane put into words what we were all thinking.

"Time to go" she said, getting nods from the rest of us. They stood and I did as well, exchanging hugs with everyone, none of us were in any doubt that what we were about to do was incredibly dangerous but we had no choice. Besides, we were doing everything we could to even the odds. We exchanged variations on 'good luck' and 'take care' before I waved them on their way with a simple benediction, one I remembered from similar operations back in Iraq.

"Good hunting"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Mac Taylor's viewpoint

I'd been down in the morgue, talking to Jo and the others, basically stretching my legs and catching up with some of the others at the same time. We were all aware that Simmonds' self-imposed deadline was just over six hours away and we'd got no leads, nothing that suggested we'd find them in time. That was hanging over everyone pretty heavily, so I went to find Jo, she was usually good for a chat that lifted my spirits.

Unfortunately it didn't work, if anything the gloom was even darker in the morgue than in Major Crimes, on reflection it was understandable given Maura Isles was missing. She and Temperance Brennan were both legends in the profession and the M.E. community was a small and relatively tight-knit one. Many of the people here had been in regular contact with Maura long before we'd come out here for LEAFCon and no one had a bad word to say about her. Now she and the others were missing and everyone was feeling the strain, locals and visitors alike.

Now I was on my way back up to Major Crimes, leaning back against the wall of the elevator, mind idling and body weary, when we stopped at the ground floor, two cops walking in with a woman between them wearing ripped jeans and a tattered tee, heavily-tattooed, mid-20's maybe, her hands handcuffed behind her. One of the uniformed cops pushed a button and the doors closed, while the other noted me and nodded, I gave him my nod in return, noting the woman was shivering even though it wasn't cold, probably a junkie needing another fix. I was about to forget her when I spotted something on her neck as she moved agitatedly, under the nape of her hair she had another tattoo. Without thinking I reached out and pushed her blonde-streaked hair to one side, staring at her skin. The woman pulled away angrily at my touch.

"What the fuck's your problem cock sucker?" I looked at the uniform who had nodded earlier.

"Lieutenant Taylor, Major Crimes" He nodded in response as I continued. "I need to see this suspect's neck" He and the other cop reached out and held the suspect as I lifted her hair out of the way, even as she tried to jerk it away. She started cursing up a storm as I stared at her skin; staring back at me was a barcode tattoo, clear as day. Stunned, I let the hair drop and shook my head, then spoke up.

"Thanks officers, you may have just helped crack a huge case"

"Didn't do anything really…" The second cop said while the first shrugged.

"Happy to help sir" Their floor dinged and they dragged the still cursing woman out as I found myself nervously tapping at the door close button, exhaustion banished. Could it really be that easy? 30 seconds later and I was practically running into the Major Crimes room.

"I need the booking and injury photos for Wynter, right now!" Heads turned for a few seconds as I impatiently hurried them up. "Now people!" That set off a general hurried looking through piles of folders before Calleigh Duquesne held it up.

"Got it" In a flash I was at her side and scanning through the photos as the team, picking up on my excitement, gathered round.

"What is it Mac?" It was Stella. I dropped the file and started spreading the images out over the work on her Calleigh's desk, unmindful of the mess.

"I'm looking for a barcode tattoo, anywhere" People started grabbing images and peering at them. We were in luck, because he'd been badly hurt when arrested, the file included his medical examination photos; it meant we had images of most of his body.

"Here!" It was Andy; he held the photo out and I took it. There on his lower inside left arm, just below the elbow joint, was a barcode tattoo. For a moment I felt like whooping before reality hit.

"Where's Ahmed?"

"He was here…" Provenza muttered then turned as Ahmed walked back in the door. "There he is... Khan, we need you!" He looked over and headed our way.

"How can I help?" He said. I shoved the image in his face and spoke.

"Can you scan this tattoo, its Wynter's" He took the image from me, holding it out and stared at it as we held our breath, he pursed his lips then nodded.

"I believe so however there is only one way to find out"

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Kate's viewpoint

We were sitting in the lee of a dumpster, backs against a wall, out of sight of the warehouse windows and away from any cars that might make an appearance while we waited. I closed my eyes and breathed out softly, looking for a moment of peace before we went into a situation that was the antithesis of peaceful. There were nine people in there, likely all armed, with pistols if not something worse. Three to one was bad enough odds to start with but we also had the four most important people in the world facing a terrible fate unless we rescued them.

We had to storm the place, relying on surprise, speed and skill to take the kidnappers down before they could react, get coordinated and either overwhelm us with numbers and firepower or try for the hostages. That last was Ana's job to prevent; the first part was up to us. I took a long slow breath in, then held it for a moment, looking for calm, telling myself this was just like a normal forced entry, except it wasn't. There was no backup, just us. Mind you, while I didn't have the reassuring presence of Esposito and Ryan like I would back home, I had Jane and Liv, I couldn't ask for better people by my side going into a situation like this.

Jane was a rock, an even better shot than I was, marginally, plus she'd seen her share of terrible situations. I'd checked out her career after we first met and I'd been impressed by her record, she'd gone up against serial killers, mafia bosses, psychopaths, rogue cops, you name it, and beaten them all, at sometimes terrible cost. Now the person she loved was in mortal danger, she'd have no hesitation in doing what was required to save her, to save them all.

Ana was the same, she'd do whatever it took; her behaviour with Moore showed that. She'd said exactly what she was going to do to make him talk, I'd thought she was bluffing at first, until we'd all realised she was terrifyingly serious and she would carry out every part of her threat. I'd almost thrown up at her description of what she'd promised to do, but when I'd objected she'd laid out the choice brutally simply, him or Rick; a kidnapping low life scum or the man I loved.

Put that way it'd been no contest, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved that Moore had broken before she'd started, hearing what she was going to do had been horrific, I couldn't have watched it happen. Now the safety of Rick and the others were up to her skill and training, but when it came down to it, I knew that she too would do whatever was needed to make sure they were safe.

Liv, well…she was conflicted, less used to facing killers than we were, she was trying to reconcile her belief in right and wrong with the fact that we were abandoning the law she was used to enforcing for an older more primal law; that of the jungle, kill or be killed.

For someone who had built their entire life on defending the innocent, often the very young innocent, and enforcing the law on their assailants, that was a big shift. She was dealing with it as best she could, I looked over her way, seeing her checking her gear for maybe the tenth time, every few minutes she'd take her Glock out and check it, then replace it and check all her gear. Satisfied, she'd sit there, her eyes closed, quietly contemplative for a few more minutes before she started the routine over again. The repetitive nature of what she was doing told me how keyed up she was, it was her way of dealing with the stress of waiting, I'd seen her do the exact same thing before.

Most recently it had been during that case we'd worked together back home, we'd gone in to that abandoned power plant with the SWAT team to rescue those kids from that Russian monster pimping them out and she'd done the exact same thing on the slow boat trip up river sneaking up on the plant, checking her gear over and over, it was her way of coping.

For all that she was conflicted, I knew I could rely on her, three years of walking a beat with her had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt, plus her actions during that child sex case had proven that deep down, where it counted, she was still the person I'd looked up to as she taught me how to survive on the streets.

She'd do okay, like the rest of us, we'd succeed or die trying.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

"Chief!"

On my way back to my office after another unpleasantly tedious meeting with Pope, I turned at Taylor's call, seeing him looking my way and beckoning me over urgently.

"This way please" He was standing by a desk staring down at Khan who was working away at a laptop computer, watched by Duquesne, Flynn, Caine, Booth, Hoyt, Provenza and Bonasera, all clustered behind him and leaning forward eagerly, something was up. Picking up on Mac's expectant look I changed course and walked over.

"Lieutenant, you have something?" He smiled.

"Oh hell yeah Chief, as you might recall, we found a barcode to get us into Wynter's computer, but needed a second one" I nodded, I remembered. Seeing it Taylor continued. "We didn't know where we'd find that one, but something I saw suggested I should check for a barcode tattoo, turns out Wynter had one on his left forearm" I slowly started nodding again, seeing where this was going. "There was an image of it from his medical admission report, it took some work but Khan here was able to scan that one in as well" Caine jumped in.

"With that we've been able to get in and Detective Khan is copying everything we're finding to a portable drive as we speak" I nodded, grateful for any lead.

"Excellent work Lieutenant, Detective, so what did you find?" Caine stood and looked me straight in the eye.

"Everything" I tipped my head to regard him.

"Could you be more specific please Lieutenant? I asked, a little annoyed by his cryptic comment. "What do you mean by everything?" All bar Ahmed who was too busy working to do so, looked my way and smiled as Caine continued.

"It's accessing the Cabal's main server in the dark web, it has everything on all the deals and contacts Wynter has in this part of the US, plus shared documents with the rest of the Cabal top leadership, who we've identified" The implications of what we'd found stunned me, something that must have come out in my voice.

"Oh my god" Taylor nodded slowly.

"It's everything we need to close them down" I nodded, stunned by what they'd found then reminded myself that there was something even more important.

"Did you find out anything about where the hostages are being kept?" Unfortunately I got suddenly glum expressions.

"No, it's current up to the time we arrested Wynter, nothing later from him and nothing from Simmonds from that time on either" I repressed a curse, they'd broken the case but we were still no closer to getting our people back. Still, they'd done really, really well, something I needed to acknowledge.

"Outstanding work everyone, fantastic in fact. Based on what you've recovered, do we have enough to convict them?" The smile from Mac was all cruel satisfaction, something reflected in his voice.

"Oh yeah, with all this information, they're going away forever"

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Liv's viewpoint

I sat there, checking my gear, making sure that I had my ammunition clips just right in my belt, my knife was ready, checking my new Glock was set up with hollow points and good to go, then settling back for a moment, looking for a way to resolve the conflict in my soul

On one hand all my training, my experience, my conscience, was telling me we should be looking to overcome the attackers, arrest them and free the hostages, but my mind was telling me that wasn't an option. Even if somehow it had been, the moment the cops talked to the kidnappers they'd know exactly who had been involved and that was a quick trip to prison for us, maybe death row if we were lucky given what Ana had planned to start us off, which was premeditated homicide right there.

As much as my conscience rebelled against the necessity of what we were about to do, it had to be this way, even if I didn't like it.

When it came down to it, it wasn't even a contest, them versus Alex. I frowned for a moment as I thought about that, putting it like that made it sound like I could do just about anything, no matter how wrong, to save her. I wasn't sure I should be so ready and willing to junk everything I'd lived my life by, if I did what did that make me, what did it make the code that I claimed to live by? An old comment I heard came to me. ' _If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything_ '.

Did my willingness to do anything necessary mean my principles stood for nothing, or was it the exceptional circumstances we found ourselves in; did that excuse justify making an exception to everything I believed in?

I was still mulling that over when I heard Ana's voice over the radio, eerily calm given what she was about to do.

" _Head's up, target acquired_ "

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Anastasia's viewpoint

With the others gone I settled back down behind the rifle, left with a few moments of quiet as I lay there, hearing the breathing of the others through the radio earpiece as they made their way down the ladder and towards the front of the warehouse. I went back to my surveillance, alternating between peering through the rifle's 20x50 power scope and resting my eye by looking away and taking in the wider area around the building.

The M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle, it looked exactly what it was, a carefully-crafted killing machine, in the right hands it's capable of dealing death at 1500 meters, I wasn't quite that good; few were really, but at the ranges I'd be firing, I was more than capable of hitting what I shot at and whatever I hit wasn't going to be getting back up again in a hurry. The Bureau Agent part of me was still appalled that Reznikov had been able to source an example in less than two hours, the rest of me was just grateful he had.

Slightly restless, waiting for something to occur so I could kick us off, I checked my four magazines again, two with hollow points for unarmoured targets, at longer ranges they'd mess up the ballistics but at this range it'd make no difference; the other two carrying armor-piercing penetrator rounds, in case I had to shoot through walls, car doors or Kevlar, selecting hollow point for my first target, the one that would kick us off.

That done I forced myself to settle back down and get myself back in position, using the rifle's high-powered scope to peer into the room Nat and the others were being held in, looking for anything unusual as the others scattered through the cluster of buildings that made up this business park and took up position out of sight but a short run from the building's front door.

It was heading towards six and what I devoutly hoped was dinnertime for the prisoners as I watched the window like a hawk. Time passed and nothing happened, though I suppose feeding their prisoners promptly wasn't all that high on their captor's priority list. Long minutes passed as I heard the low rumble of a freight train approaching. I grimaced as I settled in, hoping against hope that the door would open and I could take the shot during the train's passing. I watched and waited, hearing the train approach, pass by and start moving away when the door opened. Keying the mike I spoke.

"Head's up, target acquired" I got a mumble of acknowledgements in my earpiece as I settled myself in place, hearing their breathing increase as they ran for the front door.

I took the scene in through the scope, seeing a different guy from the one who'd delivered their lunch earlier appear in the door, Hispanic-looking, dressed similarly in jeans and an unzipped hoodie; fortunately the window was on the west side so the late afternoon sun was streaming in over my shoulder, lighting up the room and giving me an absurdly easy target. He had a plastic bag with more TV dinners and bottled water in his hand and moved forward to pass the first meal across.

I heard each of the others confirm they were ready at the front door as I lined up the target, at this range against an unsuspecting target it wasn't hard; he'd simply be the first one to die. The train was receding into the distance though there was still plenty of residual noise; I probably wasn't going to get a better chance.

"Servicing the target" I finished lining him up, the crosshairs centered on the area a few inches just below the neck; at this range it was absurdly easy, I simply couldn't miss; even if the window glass slightly deflected the shot I'd still hit somewhere vital. "Go on my mark" I breathed in, held it, then exhaled as I spoke quietly, squeezing the trigger and sending the shot down range.

"Mark" With that all hell let loose.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Maura's viewpoint

Another day coming to an end, the setting sun's rays advancing up the opposite wall to where we were cuffed as we waited for the evening's meal to be delivered to us, hopefully hot, sometimes they weren't, some of our captors couldn't be bothered to heat them up before delivering them. Bored, we'd spent some time this afternoon discussing anything we could to take our minds off our current circumstances.

Movies, books, treasured childhood memories, favourite foods and drinks, our best experiences with our lovers; all passed the time and kept our minds distracted. I was actually lying out on the floor with my head in Natalie's lap as she ran her fingers through my hair. I felt it was somewhat grimy, having not been washed for days, but she obviously did not mind, perhaps it was as comforting for her as it was for me, the rhythmic sensation calming and soothing, a reminder of normality perhaps.

Alex had dozed off, leaning against Rick's right shoulder as he kept his maimed left hand safely cradled in his lap, away from any bumps and knocks. While it was not quite as inflamed as it had been and I had not detected any secondary infection or any sign of gangrene, it was still painful and very tender, something the Tylenol that we had been provided with did little to alleviate. I had repeatedly asked for something stronger, plus antiseptic, but had been told it was not worth it. As one of them had said, ' _Simmonds is gonna chop his hand off anyway, so why bother?_ '

I had gritted my teeth at the casual brutality in that statement however his words had highlighted the fate intended for us all. Rick would be killed while the three of us were to be shipped overseas; they apparently had customers who would pay handsomely for beautiful, blonde American women. We had been informed that Natalie and I would go to the Middle East while Alex had been sold to a drug cartel in Columbia, one that had an old score to settle with her. Natalie and I had already quietly agreed that if it came to that, we would bide our time till we could kill whoever bought us, then try to escape, if we died, so be it, but we would be no one's slaves.

Rick had amazingly remained optimistic despite what had been done to him and the knowledge of what had been planned. As he had put it, ' _Kate and the others are out there, looking for us. I have faith that they'll find us, it's just a matter of how quickly_ '. I found his confidence in Kate, Jane and the others comforting, reproving myself that if he could remain positive and confident in the face of our captor's plans, so could I. After all this was Jane, she would do whatever was required to find me, not stopping till we were reunited. If Rick could remain buoyant despite our circumstances, how could I do less?

Doing so allowed me more time to devote to Alex and Natalie. Natalie's normally sunny disposition had been leeched away by fear and despair, she tried to hide it but her mental state was a concern, she drew her strength and resilience from Anastasia, now she was a frightened woman with a fragile emotional state. Alex was also a concern, while she was coping better than Natalie, the knowledge she would be handed over to a drug cartel and be subjected to their revenge terrified her, the mass rapes and tortures the Sinaloa cartel had inflicted to that poor woman kidnapped and delivered back to them had been horrific, it was hardly likely that the Ochoa would be any less brutal with her.

The time we spent handcuffed to the pipe gave our minds all too much opportunity to focus on what was planned for us, so any diversion, no matter how trivial, was welcome.

Thus it was that when the door opened we all looked up to see another meal occurring. One of our captors, the one we'd heard called Luis arrived, delivering four microwaved meals and a bottle of water each for lunch. He wasn't unnecessarily cruel, the meals he delivered were always hot at least, though he'd expressed his disappointment more than once that he couldn't ' _give you a test drive_ ' as he'd put it, before we'd be sold off, mind you after Simmonds' vicious rage directed towards Jerry after his attempted assault on Natalie he'd toned that rhetoric right down.

For all that, he was still better than the one who'd taken us to the bathroom after lunch. That one, the one the others called TJ, took pleasure in humiliating us, he'd stood there while we went to the bathroom, forcing us to go on a toilet with no door, commenting all the while on the various physically abusive things he'd like to do to us. The man was a pervert, worse a cruel one, we'd all felt the back of his hand if we'd moved too slowly for him; easily done when we spent all day and night sitting on a cold floor against a wall handcuffed to the pipe, our bodies wracked with cramps and spasms from lack of exercise when we tried to move.

Alex awoke at Rick's gentle shake while I sat up as Luis stepped forward, the first meal in his hand as he went to pass it to Natalie, at least he handed them to us; some of the others threw them at us like dogs. Before Natalie could reach it the glass in the window above us shattered as Luis was instantly flung backwards, glass shards raining down from the window as Luis' body passed through the door and came to rest slammed against the against the far wall, sliding down to lay slumped against the wall even as Natalie cried out, Alex gasped and Rick cursed.

I sat there for a moment, my mind stunned by the sudden application of violence right in front of us before I recovered my wits; my training and experience already telling me that Luis was dead, the size of the bullet wound and the unnatural angle at which his head hung made that more than clear.

The transferred energy, enough to throw a powerful, heavy-set man backwards six feet and hard into a wall told me it was a high-calibre rifle bullet, at least a 7.62 round, the huge impact site, several inches below his trachea and the shallowness of the wound, together with a lack of an exit wound and blood spray confirmed that it was a specialist round, quite possibly a hollow point, something designed to inflict a massive wound to an unprotected target, that was no ordinary shooter out there; that shot had been intended to kill, not wound.

There was a sudden burst of gunfire from downstairs, pistols at first, then what sounded like a sub-machine gun or assault rifle, A sense of hope grew in me, was our rescue at hand, perhaps the LAPD had found us, was Jane here? I felt hope for the first time in days, perhaps our deliverance was at hand. I noticed rapid, shallow breathing to my left, Natalie was staring at the body, her eyes wide like saucers, realising Natalie was in shock and hyperventilating I reached out and grabbed her hand, trying to attract her attention and calm her down, even as I heard the echoing boom of a shotgun.

"Natalie, it will be all right, it is Jane and Ana and the others; they have found us"

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Jane's viewpoint

' _Mark_ '

We heard Ana's quiet voice in our ears; arriving a split second before a muffled pop from her rifle and the sound of shattering glass.

I heard a voice from the other side of the door, someone loudly wondering what the noise was. I grimaced, then glanced at the others and got nods, Kate and Liv getting set up in position as I levelled my Glock.

"On three" it was Kate, getting a nod from Liv. "Three…two…one!"

Both lashed out, their feet hitting the door together and tearing the door out of its lock, rocketing back against its hinge as I saw a guy about fifteen feet away, looking the other way. For a second I almost called on him to surrender, the instincts of years rising to the fore, before reality took over. He was already turning our way when my shot took him in the side, the spray of blood telling me I'd connected even as he fell. I ducked in through the door and moved right, already looking for cover as the others swarmed in after me, spreading out so we weren't bunched up near the door. The guy I'd hit stumbled to his feet, one hand clapped to his side where I'd hit him, the other dragging out a pistol from a shoulder holster. He didn't get the chance to use it, two shots ringing out almost as one from the other's, one hit him in the upper arm, the other in the chest, sending him tumbling to the floor to lie screaming on the concrete, the pistol skittering across the floor as it dropped from his spasming fingers.

I could see faces swinging our way in response to the shots, weapons appearing even as people disappeared into cover, making me grimace, this wasn't going to be easy, a feeling reinforced by a volley of pistol shots from our left as I dived out of the way and headed for a rack of metal shelving, looking for cover and a better position.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Alex's viewpoint

The building was alive with scattered shots, male voices yelling and screaming from down below. We shared scared but increasingly hopeful looks between us before we became aware of a drumming of footsteps along the corridor outside, someone was coming in a hurry; unconsciously Rick and I shrank back against the wall, seeing Maura and Natalie do the same as we heard the footsteps slow. As we stared at the doorway TJ appeared, looking down at Luis, then turning to look at us, his pistol already in his hand.

"What the fuck…"

He never got to finish his sentence, his head vaporising in a red mist as his body flew back, hit the wall and tumbled down to the left, out of sight from where I could see through the doorway.

"Oh my god" It was Natalie, who seemed to be recovering slowly from her initial shocked reaction. Rick nodded.

"They aren't messing about" I nodded in agreement as Maura spoke.

"Lethal force, applied with exceptional accuracy" I looked up at the shattered window above me, careful to stay out of the line of sight of whoever was out there, given how lethal they were I did not want to be shot by accident. Rick nodded.

"They're protecting us from any threats" he said as I nodded slowly.

"It would seem we have a guardian angel" I looked at both bodies, sprawled in the hallway outside our doorway, both lying still. "A very lethal guardian angel"

Maura went to say something when we were interrupted by the boom of a shotgun blast from the floor below.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Jane's viewpoint

There was a thunderous boom as a shotgun blast rang out, I felt the crate I was huddled against shiver as it was hit, before I could move there was another shot, then another, almost certainly a pump action though neither hit my cover, risking a glance round the crate's side I saw two guys running for the side fire door, the one with the shotgun spraying the room to keep our heads down. I went to take a shot when the guy turned back my way, he must have seen the movement, before he could fire though a shot hit him in the chest, from the direction it must have been Liv, as he started to fold a second hit him in the head and he dropped like a stone, I glanced to my left to see Kate braced against a crate, taking a snap shot at the second guy and missing, she'd been the one to drop the guy with the shotgun, while the guy grabbed for the door handle, making me curse, even as Liv's voice came up on the radio.

"Ana, we got a runner, coming out the fire door" Two clicks acknowledged the call as I turned my attention back to the firefight, leaving the runner to Ana. A second later the guy barreled into the fire door and out into the open, only for his body to be flung back through the open door, much of his right shoulder a splattered mess, he hit the floor and writhed for a few seconds, his screams easily heard, before a second shot to his head stilled his screams forever, leaving the body sprawled unmoving in a growing blood pool.

The radio clicked twice in my ear then went silent as I shook my head in wonder and a little dread, behind a rifle Ana was normally good; now though she was an unemotional robot, as merciless as death, when she shot it was to kill quickly and efficiently. Out of the corner of her eye I spotted Kate dashing across the space between two crates as shots rang out, peering round I spotted a guy moving her way with an M4 in his hand. I popped up and braced long enough to fire twice, the first hit the guy's shoulder, the second took him in the side as he fell; Kate meanwhile had dropped back out of sight and kept moving as someone let loose a burst of fire at where she'd been, tearing up the wall behind her as she scuttled further into cover.

I swore to myself, we'd taken out four of them but the others were regrouping, this was turning into a bloody mess, god knows where the others were. Unbidden a phrase I'd read once came to mind.

"The issue is in doubt"


	83. Chapter 83

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **83 Shoot Out**

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Jane's viewpoint

I dropped down to a crouch and half ran, half scuttled to my right, keeping under cover and trying to flank the bad guys. I just hadn't counted on one of them doing the same thing, he appeared round the corner barely two feet from me; neither of us had heard the other one coming thanks to all the noise, the screams and firing.

I was close enough to see his eyes widen in shock, then frantically swing his gun my way. I lashed out with my hand, knocking it off line even as I tried to bring mine to bear. He wasn't an amateur though; he swung his arm and blocked my gun hand, pushing my Glock out of the way even as he kicked out with his foot, trying for my knee. I didn't dare fall back, he'd put a shot into me if I did, instead moving the leg to ride the blow, robbing it of any force

This close he couldn't do anything with his pistol, same as I couldn't either, instead I could bring my knees and elbows into play, my Wing Chun moves perfect for this in your face fight. For a short eternity, maybe five seconds, we struggled, he getting the worst of it, before he pulled off a move I hadn't seen before, his offhand digging into my wrist, the one holding the Glock, somehow he found a nerve, my fingers opening involuntarily, allowing it to drop clear to the floor where it clattered.

He threw a punch at my head but I ducked it, taking the blow mostly to the shoulder, painful but nothing more, I grimaced then recovered enough to grab his gun hand with both of mine and, using my two-handed leverage, smashed his wrist down on the edge of a crate, once, twice and he dropped the pistol with an agonised gasp, it fell to the floor clattering as he swung at me again with his other hand.

He went for my throat with a blow but I got a forearm up in time to block it, then went to bind his arm in mine to give me an advantage, but he was smart enough to pull back before I could get his arm, I went for a kick to his groin but he blocked it, then struck for my throat, getting blocked in turn. Spinning and turning, we went back and forth for must have been fifteen seconds before he over extended and I got a kick in past his guard to connect with his hip, sending him staggering back.

For a second we stared at each other before his eyes dropped to his pistol, lying on the floor, diving for it as I did the same, he was closer and his fingers closed around it, I was close enough to see the relief in his eyes, seen as he stood up and extended his arm towards me, his voice triumphant.

"Yes!" It barely lasted a half second before a bullet hit the side of his head, the impact knocking him off balance before his legs collapsed, no longer a brain telling them what to do, sending him crashing to the floor, most of his left temple stove in by the bullet entry. I looked up to see Liv standing there; she'd come round the corner and taken the shot. I nodded gratefully once and got one back before she moved on, you couldn't stay still in this lunatic fun house, doing so would get you killed.

I got to my feet, a little shakily to be honest, looking round and finding my Glock, scooping it up and following Liv, taking a last look at the guy, but he was already long gone.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Kate's viewpoint

The place was a mad house and this fire fight was a nightmare; I'd never been in anything like this. The first-person shooter games Rick occasionally played were nothing like this, they just didn't properly convey the sheer insane chaos. Instead of bad guys appearing in a sequence to be taken care of one at a time, usually from one direction, they popped up and down, constantly moving, with shots coming in from different angles, plus nothing prepared you for the sound of a string of bullets whistling just past your ear, each one a lethal little package of death, any of them could have taken my damned head off.

I'd duck from cover to cover, popping up to take a look and maybe a shot when I could, then ducking back quickly. While we'd taken out the first guy with an M4, another had one and was firing in short bursts, trying to pin us down, he was the biggest threat; he could hose all of us if he got lucky.

I was looking one way when a figure barrelled round the corner of the machinery I was hiding behind, I had a split second to brace before he cannoned into me, he'd been running full tilt and didn't know I was there; we went down in a tumble of limbs and grunts, rolling apart. The impact of the hit had made me drop my Glock, I looked up to see him looking around, both hands empty, he'd been no better it seemed.

I shook my head, gritted my teeth and launched myself at him, he ducked and frantically rolled away as I missed, then rolled to my feet, seeing him do the same. He frantically glanced around, obviously looking for his gun, before he grimaced and reached behind him, dragging a knife out and bringing it round in front of him.

"C'mere bitch" he ground out. I shook my head as I dropped into a crouch.

"Come and get me" He accepted the invitation, slashing diagonally across my body, but I'd stepped back and let the blade pass then snapped a kick into his ribs, drawing a pained grunt then stepped back as he slashed back at me. Recovering he tried again but this time I timed it right and a kick to his hand sent the knife flying away. I saw him shake the hand he'd been holding it in; hopefully I'd done some damage, but he recovered and shaped up in a boxer's defensive stance, using his arms to fend off my kicks and lashing out with jabs when he could as we circled. He wasn't bad, but the daily sparring with Jane and the others had made me much better than I'd been, or he was; I just needed an opportunity to end this.

We must have circled twice, each of us testing the other with strikes and blocks when I saw an opening, not much of one, but enough; each time he dropped his left arm when he went to strike with his right, as he did he gave me an opening above his guard. I let his next blow connect with my left side, it hurt like hell but nothing broke, in return he'd given me that opening, I took a half step back then sprang forward, jumping, already twisting my body hard to the right to impart more force to my spin, it'd worked against Liv and she was a better fighter than this guy, the point of my boot connecting with his throat, all the tremendous force of my momentum and weight delivered into the front of his throat, the damage there immense.

I spun to the ground and rolled to my knees, already looking round and springing back to my feet but he wasn't coming after me, he'd stumbled to his knees, his hands wrapped around his throat as he desperately tried to breath. I grimaced and looked round, retrieving my Glock from the floor and went to move away when, looking back, I saw him collapse, writhing on the floor, suffocating and in agony, dying slowly; suffocation could take up to two minutes. Grimacing, I shook my head then delivered him a quick and peaceful end before moving on.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Maura's viewpoint

The noise downstairs was incredible, with screams penetrating the sounds of gunfire, we'd heard the short sharp retort of pistols interspersed with the rattle of at least one automatic weapon, the boom of the shotgun had stopped, though I didn't know if that was a good sign or not. I shared a glance with Alex, hope warring with fear, before we heard approaching footsteps on the creaky wooden floor outside our prison; whoever was out there was being careful, not running into view like TJ. The creaking stopped and we waited fearfully before a face peeked round the corner then disappeared out of view again, we recognised one of the senior men who had captured us, we had heard his name mentioned; Bob. The fact that they'd been so casual, letting us hear their names and see their faces had been the first sign that we'd never be released, even before our final fate had been explained by Simmonds. Bob's head appeared again, eyes sweeping the room and seeing the shattered window before ducking back as we heard his voice clearly.

"Fucking sniper…" I don't know what he was planning, before he could do anything more the brick wall next to the doorway suddenly exploded inwards towards the corridor, a spray of blood spattering the opposite wall as an agonised scream rang out. Both Alex and Natalie cried out at the sudden explosive noise, Natalie curling into an even smaller ball in my arms while Alex cringed into Rick's embrace as he cursed and I unconsciously flinched at the sudden, shocking sight, even as my mind realised that whoever was shooting had just used an armour-piercing round, it had impacted the wall and the penetrator had passed through and hit Bob. He was not dead though, I could hear a repeated coughing noise from outside the door, perhaps he had been hit in the chest.

A second shot followed the first; the explosive impact lower down and across from the first, more blood spattered across the corridor's wall and floor, making us all recoil again as the screaming started again from outside the door. A second later the reason became apparent as an agonised Bob rolled into sight on the far side of the corridor, writhing in pain, the reason evident; much of the left side of his chest was torn away; a pair of massive wounds that would prove fatal in minute of two at most, the blood loss would kill him if the shock did not. As it turned out neither did as a third shot destroyed the back of his head, killing him instantly in a spray of blood, bone and brain matter. There was silence for a few seconds before shooting picked up again downstairs as we looked round at each other, scared beyond belief at what we had seen but with a slowly growing hope that our deliverance was at hand.

Rick was the first to speak, looking over Alex's head to catch my eye, his voice shaky with adrenaline and fear.

"Whoever's out there isn't fooling about, they're making sure their targets are dead" I nodded and spoke up quietly.

"They are ensuring our continued survival, therefore I cannot find it in me to criticise their tactics" He nodded as Natalie looked up, seeing the dead men in the doorway then looked to me, terror warring with hope, and spoke.

"Do you think it's them, Ana and the others? Are they here?" I nodded back and gave her all the reassurance I could.

"I hope so Natalie, I hope so"

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Jane's viewpoint

I heard Ana's rifle in my earpiece as I ran from cover to cover, hearing a man start screaming from upstairs, then a second shot followed by more screaming that abruptly shut off following a third shot, making me shiver a little despite the sweat on my face.

It was weird, I wasn't exerting myself the same way as I did when sparring, but I was still sweating, idly wondering if it was a fear reaction, I dragged my sleeve across my brow to stop any sweat there running into my eyes then moved on.

The volume of fire was dying down, mostly due to us taking out our opponents; I did a quick head count, frantically popping my head up and scanning the area before dropping back. I counted three guys down that I could see then spoke up.

"How many have we taken down?" There was a few seconds silence before I got responses.

" _I can see three from here_ " it was Liv, followed a few seconds later by Kate.

" _I can see four down from here_ "

"Ana?"

" _Three up, one down_ " was her curt reply as I did the math, we'd counted ten guys arriving earlier and assuming the body by the fire door had been double counted that left us with…

"Seven, maybe eight down, two or three left" I stated.

" _The guy with the M4 is rear left_ " was Kate's comment, punctuated by a couple of pistol shots from off to the right, something Liv pointed out.

" _There's one mid-right, he's moving back towards the fire escape there_ " I grimaced, that'd be his funeral if he tried that way, something the body lying just inside the door attested to, so he probably wasn't going out that way. I was up and moving to the right, crouching down and using a roller conveyer thing as cover, heading to the right wall.

"Still no sign of the last one?" I asked.

" _No_ " said Liv, followed by Kate

" _Nothing_ " I ground my teeth a little in frustration and worry before concentrating on what I knew rather than what I didn't, moving forward carefully from cover to cover until I was getting close. There were two closely spaced shots from ahead of me as I heard Liv's voice.

" _Shit, that was close_ " I didn't bother asking if she was okay, she'd have told us if she wasn't, instead creeping from cover to cover ever closer to the shooter. There was another rattle from the M4 but no one said anything, I peered around the side of the pillar I was standing behind but couldn't see anything, making me grimace, I must have been getting close but I had no idea of his exact location. Ducking back I thought for a moment then spoke quietly, desperate for my voice not to be heard by the shooter.

"Liv, do you have a location on the pistol guy?"

" _Rough one yeah, he's got two crates in front of him_ " I snatched another look and spotted the large crates she was talking about, but didn't see anyone. I shook my head.

"I'm moving in, keep his head down for me will ya?"

"Okay, be careful" I nodded before a series of slow, careful shots thunked into the crates. Taking a breath I moved from the pillar I was behind to the next one and peered around. I spotted the guy there, crouched down, his back to the crate taking cover, an automatic pistol in his hands and blood staining one shoulder and side, I recognised him as the guy with the M4 I'd hit before, running for the fire door. Unfortunately he was looking my way and saw me, his eyes widening comically as he swung and fired my way, the bullet hitting the concrete pillar, kicking up dust and chips which made me flinch for a second, even as I fired my first shot, it hit him in the other shoulder, knocking him off balance, making his second shot go wild.

I took a split second to reacquire the target, seeing the realization in his eyes even as I pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting him in the face and sending him sprawling. I ducked back for a second, then peered round the other side of the pillar, but he was dying, twitching feebly, I could see I'd hit just below the right eye and blood was already appearing under his head, regret hitting me for a moment before I ruthlessly stamped down on it. If he'd been a couple inches more accurate, that would have been me, his shot had hit that pillar barely two inches from my face. That was one less, something that reminded me, I spoke up for the mike.

"Guy on the right wall's down"

" _Great, can you come and bail me out then?_ " It was Kate, her voice a bit strained.

" _What's up?_ " Liv asked; the concern in her voice for her friend and old partner easily heard.

" _I tried flanking the guy with the rifle, but he saw me and he's got me pinned down, he shifted position and now I'm stuck behind some machinery, I can't go forward and I can't go back either, I'm stuck here_ " I nodded and started moving as Liv replied.

" _On my way_ " I headed the same way, angling towards the back wall, moving quickly from cover to cover.

30 seconds later and it was over, we'd caught him from three directions; at the first shot from Liv from his left side he'd tried to move, either to relocate or to run, but he'd got hit in a crossfire from all three of us before he'd gone five feet, dead with five or six bullets in him before he hit the ground.

We gathered for a second, looking round as Liv spoke, hearing her in my ear and via the radio both was weird.

"There's one more out there" Exchanging nods we scattered, searching as we moved across the floor, but not finding anyone. I did see one guy was crawling towards a dropped pistol, leaving a trail of blood on the floor, he'd been the one closest to the door when we kicked it in, he'd collected a couple of shots but obviously none had been fatal. I stepped past him and kicked it away before turning back to him.

"I surrender" His voice was weak and tired as he rolled to partially sit up, one hand held out in a stop gesture, the other clapped over a bullet wound in his lower torso, blood staining the area around it. "I give up" I regarded him for a second, this guy was one of the people who'd kidnapped the woman I loved, tortured Rick, done god knows what to Maura and the others and was going to sell them as sex slaves to some scumbag in a third world hell hole. He must have seen something in my eyes as he shook his head. "Hey, I give up" I shook my head as I saw recognition suddenly bloom, seeing his eyes widen. "You're that cop, the one that's..." His voice trailed off. I nodded.

"Yeah, that's my fiancée you kidnapped and were gonna sell after this was all over and you got your boss back" He must have realised what was gonna happen as he started backing away.

"You gotta arrest me, you're a cop, so arrest me, I give up" I shook my head once, my heart and head both in agreement on my decision. If he lived I'd spend the rest of my life on death row, so would the others, I'd never hold Maura again, all of this death wasted, for nothing.

"I'm not the cops, not today" The shot was loud, echoing through the now silent building as I turned away and kept looking.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Natalie's viewpoint

The noise from downstairs had died down, now there was silence, loud after the cacophony of sound earlier, before the silence was broken by a single shot, it sounded like the pistol shots I was familiar with from media days at the range. We found ourselves speaking softly, unsure of what to do, there were no calls of 'Police' or 'LAPD', in fact no voices we could hear at all.

We were still wondering when we heard the creak of feet on the main stairs and down the corridor, making us shrink back, exchanging worried looks, but they didn't appear in the door, instead the steps retreating back the way they came. A minute or two later we heard sounds from the other end of the corridor, doors being opened down where the toilets were, but again they didn't come near us before the sounds receded, then we heard a stair creak, it seemed they were going in the other direction.

Unsure, I looked to the others, getting head shakes and raised eyebrows, they had no more idea of what was going on than I did, instead we were left there in the silence, waiting and wondering.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Jane's viewpoint

Another few minute passed and we found nothing. Seeing the others heading my way I looked round as Kate spoke.

"Building's clear, we found seven dead down here, I checked the stairways and upstairs and there's three more dead up there, so that's all accounted for" Liv's nod backed her up, as did her words.

"All the bad guys are down, we should get the hell out of here" I nodded and spoke.

"Ana, any sign of any further movement"

" _Three dead outside their room, none seen_ " was the clipped response. That made ten dead, accounting for all of them.

"We counted ten didn't we?" I got nods and Ana's voice came back up on the radio.

" _Ten went in at shift change_ " I nodded tiredly; that was all of them.

"That's the lot, let's get the hell out of here, the sooner we are the sooner they're safe" I took one last look around at the bodies visible and shook my head, then continued. "Ana, get to the van" I got two clicks in response as I looked at Kate.

"Call Hayley and let's get moving" I looked up to the first floor, I wasn't the only one, seeing Liv staring longingly towards the stairs and Alex, Maura was up there too... I ruthlessly stomped down on that and turned away as Kate put her hand on Liv's shoulder and spoke quietly.

"I know, but they'll be safe soon" Liv nodded and turned away, we had to be a long way away from here real soon. That didn't make it any easier though.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Hayley's viewpoint

I saw the three of them as they ran out from the warehouse, it looked like none of them were wounded, they were moving fast and unhindered, watching as they disappeared around the corner; less than a minute later their van appeared around a corner, Ana driving, and accelerated out of the area, disappearing out of sight, leaving the place quiet. Seconds later my cheap mobile phone pinged, indicating a message. Opening it I saw a single smiley face.

:)

The emoji there did two things, conveyed the message without ambiguity and gave away nothing to the cops when they started their inevitable investigation. I breathed a sigh of relief, it meant they'd pulled it off and got away clean. Now I just had to wait.

I settled back into the seat of the car I'd stolen, I'd picked it carefully, a nondescript white Prius, the sort of road lice that infested the streets, just the kind of vehicle that one's eyes skipped over without noting it, there were millions on the streets worldwide, as ubiquitous as yellow cabs in New York and about as unremarkable. Perfect for what I needed.

For twenty five minutes I sat and waited, watching the place carefully but there was no movement. I'd done this sort of thing before, in places all over the globe, especially in parts of Africa where my colour helped me blend in; surveillance was an exercise in patience, something I'd had to painfully develop. A second ping announced the arrival of another smiley face, telling me they'd met up with Alexis and swapped their van for a nondescript Ford we'd parked out of the way yesterday, Alexis would express drop off the rental van I'd rented using a fake I.D. and credit card yesterday morning and then pick me up, leaving that trail to go cold. The others would transfer from the Ford to their Tahoe, heading home and leaving me to collect the Ford and transfer their stuff to a hole-in-the-wall storage place until I could dispose of it where it'd never be found, out at sea. That done they were making their way back to the house out in Malibu.

I smiled for a second. They'd done their job; that meant that Rick was safe, Alexis was handling this bloody awful mess as well as could be expected but nothing would make her well like seeing her dad safe and sound.

Alexis had gone through so much, her life had been filled with threats and danger ever since her dad and Beckett had got together, those two seemed to attract danger like magnets; on the other hand they'd survived everything, with luck this would be just another story to tell in years to come. One we could all laugh about once it was safely behind us.

I had to admit this one was far worse than most, I'd seen the video of them cutting off Rick's finger when they'd sent it to the media, it was horrifying and I'd sworn that whoever had done it would pay, it looked like Beckett and the others had collected on that for me, my only regret was that I hadn't been the one to pull the trigger on the bastard who'd done it.

I owed Rick, he'd become a really good friend in the time since we'd first met, even more so since Alexis and I had fallen for each other. I well-remembered the look on his face when Alexis had told him over dinner that she'd found someone very special to be with, someone she loved, that she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. The look of happiness on his face had been only exceeded by the surprise when she'd reached out and taken my hand before I'd pulled her into my arms.

Once he'd got used to it though, and tried the whole overbearing dad routine on me, something that had reduced Beckett to honest-to-god hysterical laughter, he'd turned out to be the best friend you could hope for.

One evening not long after that night I'd invited him over to my place and cooked him a proper East End curry, not the insipid ones you got here in the states, and then we'd then sat down over beers and had a heart to heart. I told him that as I was with his daughter that he needed to know about the person I really was.

He'd listened, not judging, just nodding as I'd told him about my life before we'd met; the good, the bad and eventually, the ugly. He hadn't turned a hair as I told him about the work I'd done for the Secret Intelligence Service, the place most called MI6. Instead he'd just nodded then asked a few questions that showed he knew a lot more than most did about the sort of work the service had got me doing. We'd ended up discussing a lot more than I'd originally intended, he'd not been judgemental, instead accepting that I'd done what I'd been trained and equipped and ordered to do. The night had ended when he stopped at my door and turned, looked at me and smiled.

"It's good to know my daughter's in the safest of hands, keep her safe for me Hayley, that's all I ask" he'd said, then he'd winked, nodded and left, leaving me standing there, feeling a rush of emotion like I hadn't felt in years. It seemed both Castle's had found a way into my heart that no one else had.

Two more minutes passed quietly, ending when I saw a bronze SUV pull up near the front of the building, a white guy in his maybe late thirty's, in what looked like good shape, got out and walked round to the other side of the truck, opening the door and leaning in as I watched him through a small telescopic rifle scope, much easier to conceal than a pair of binoculars. As I watched I saw two things, the first was he was pulling a stack of pizza boxes out of the truck, at least eight or ten large ones, telling me there had to have been quite a few people in there.

The second and far more important was that I saw a pistol in a shoulder holster. That did it for me, in seconds I was out of the car and quietly stalking him; taking advantage of the fact that his attention was on balancing the pizza's as he approached the door and that I'd worn soft-soled runners for precisely this reason. As I moved quietly up behind him he'd arrived at the door and opened it, the pizza's dropping everywhere as he saw the inside of the warehouse. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his pistol as he took careful steps forward, taking in the bloody scene as I moved up behind him, close enough to hear him muttering.

"Holy shit…what…?"

He must have caught my movement from the corner of his eye as he spun to his left, a bad move as he had his gun in his right, the extra split second or so it took him to bring it to bear cost him the fight.

My first strike hit him in the Adam's apple, the pain and sudden realisation he couldn't breathe bringing him up short as his hands flew to his throat, giving me the opening to step to one side and, grabbing his chin in one hand and placing the other on the back of his head, I wrenched it round as hard as I could.

The familiar crack noise was as sickening as always, the neck snapping as he dropped like a puppet, most of the nerves running through the spinal column disrupted, leaving him helpless as I took care to kick his pistol from his suddenly nerveless fingers. I looked down and saw his eyes bulge as he suffocated, his body twitching helplessly, unable to do anything. I took a step back, running my eyes over the warehouse, it was a mess, I could easily count four scattered bodies just from where I was standing; all of them tumbled in that way that only the dead truly are. Shaking my head at the carnage, for amateurs Beckett and the others had done an amazing job of neutralising every hostile asset there; the guys in the 'direct action' branch of the Service would have been impressed, I turned and walked past the dying man back to my car.

I sat there for a minute or two, feeling the trembles come and go, just like they always did after a life or death experience, I looked down at my outspread fingers and noticed barely a shake as the adrenaline high washed away. I watched then clenched them, willing the tremors away before checking the time again; it had been over half an hour since they'd left.

I sent a quick, two emoji text to Kate's burner phone.

:( :)

The faces telling them there had been a hitch but all was now well. That was their signal to destroy and dispose of that phone, the same as I would after one final call. I waited another 15 agonising minutes before I connected up the voice modulator and dialled the first number I'd been given, if that didn't work I had a second one for someone in the LAPD, fortunately it wasn't needed.

" _NCIS, this is Blye_ " Apparently this Blye woman was with the local Naval Criminal Investigation Service, smart and rock solid.

"Please listen carefully, I have an urgent tip off for you and will not be repeating myself, do you understand?" There was a second's silence then her voice came through.

" _Yes_ " I smiled, she'd obviously realised asking questions like 'who is this' were a waste of both her and my time, especially as it must have sounded like she was talking to an alien thanks to the modulator.

"I'm only going to say this once so take it down. Do you have something to write this information down on?" A few seconds later she replied.

" _Yes I do_ " I nodded, my eyes scanning the area as I spoke slowly.

"Four kidnapped men and women are being held in a warehouse in an industrial park, Unit 6, 1312 East Valencia Drive, in Fullerton, Los Angeles. The people who took them have been dealt with and their lives are not in immediate danger however that could change at any time so speed is of the essence" I paused. "Repeat that back"

" _Four hostages, warehouse,_ _Unit 6, 1312 East Valencia Drive_ _, Los Angeles, get there quick_ " _,_

"Correct" With that I ended the call, starting up the Prius and moving out of the complex, relocating a block up the road, close enough to watch the entrance of the industrial park and get back there if I had to, but also far enough away to be outside the responding forces' attention.

The next thirty minutes passed slowly, before I saw a convoy of dark cars appear in the rear view mirror, speeding past me headed for the industrial parks entrance. As I watched they pulled up at the front, out of sight of the interior buildings and a group of people disembarked, through my scope I could see they were wearing body armour and carrying MP7s, the cavalry had finally arrived, it had taken them long enough. As I watched they started enveloping the site in a tactical move and cover pattern, drawing a small nod, they weren't taking any chances. Smart of them really, but Jane had said this Blye woman was an experienced operator.

I glanced around, it was time to go. Ten minutes from now, fifteen tops, this place would be crawling with every brand of cops imaginable so it was time to get the hell out of here. I flipped the mobile phone over and removed the battery just to be safe; I'd dispose of it and the smashed mobile in separate locations on the way back to the North Malibu place. I'd dump the Prius in a car park I'd scoped out before; no camera's covering it or the entrances. A few minutes' walk through a mall and Alexis would be waiting for me, with luck we'd be back before the call from the cops arrived to pass on the good news.

With one last look around the area I smiled, a little grimly, anticipating what they'd find, then drove off.

 **Los Angeles**

Kensie Blye's viewpoint

The caller hung up, their message delivered, leaving me contemplating what they'd said.

The fact they'd gone to such lengths to hide their voice suggested they were serious, but just in case it was a false flag to get the team out in the open I decided we'd go in loaded for bear.

Ten minutes later we were on the road, the team plus I'd grabbed a couple of available Force Recon Marines for backup, and, courtesy of the lights and sirens, less than twenty minutes later we were approaching the site. We killed the noise a block away and moved in, debussing and spreading out, everyone in full tactical kit, body armour, MP7s, radio's, the works. We spread out to cover all angles, even as I noticed the door to number 6 was open and there were cars parked in front of it, a surprising number for a Sunday afternoon.

" _Heading for overwatch_ " one of the Marines reported as I nodded.

"Any sign of movement?" No response from the team, giving me my answer. We hunkered down and watched the area, until a welcome call came through.

" _On the roof, no signs of hostile activity, no signs of anyone visible at all, though the fire doors open on this side and I have a shattered window on the first floor, same side_ " He paused then continued. " _Can't see anything through the window from this angle, but no movement visible_ " I nodded at the Marines' report and glanced around, seeing the team watching the area.

"Okay, move in" We carefully moved through the quiet industrial park as I took in the area, seeing no movement, watching my team move from cover to cover, something all those cars provided. They stopped, covering the building as the rest of the team and I moved in, passing them and advancing on the door, weapons ready and nerves tense.

Looking in the first thing that hit me was the body visible, sprawled dead just inside the doorway. I scanned the building but saw no movement so I nodded to Deeks and the others, moving in as the rest of the team came up behind us. As the team passed through the door, Marty gave me a wink as they moved in, spreading out into cover. I paused and bent to check the guy sprawled out, the angle his head was laying told me he was gone but he wasn't completely cold either, he'd died fairly recently, maybe less than an hour. A pistol was lying a few feet from the body.

" _Head's up, we've got a dead one here_ " I looked up at Nell Jones' words to see another body she'd spotted about twenty feet away, lying in a pool of blood.

" _He's not the only one either_ " At Sam Hanna's calm voice I stood and looked around, seeing what he meant, there had to be four dead bodies visible from where I stood.

"Spread out, check the bodies and search the building, be careful, we don't know if the assailants who did this are still here" Given the call, I didn't think they were but it never hurt to consider the worst-case scenarios, you lived longer that way.

Moving across the floor it became obvious the place was a charnel house, dead everywhere, we counted a total of eight on the ground floor even as Nell and Marty moved up the stairs. I was looking at one guy near the side fire escape, a large chunk of his shoulder was missing but that hadn't killed him, that'd been caused by a second shot to the head that had taken much of it off, leaving a bloody ruin behind, making me wonder about the weapon used, I'd never seen that sort of injury from a handgun, it had to be something bigger and nastier.

" _More dead upstairs_ " I turned at Nell's call and was making my way towards the stairs when Marty came up on the radio. " _Heads up!"_ There was a couple of long seconds' silence, spiking my worry, before he continued. " _We've got survivors, three women and a guy, handcuffed in one of the rooms up here_ "

I quickly made my way up, there were three more guys in the corridor here showing the same massive injuries as the one by the fire door, plus one wall had holes blasted straight through it, the other side of the corridor was spattered with blood, a lot of it, while the floor of the corridor was running in blood from the three dead's massive wounds. Nell was guarding the door while Marty checked the rest of this floor. Stepping past Nell I moved into the room, seeing three blonde women and a sandy haired guy peering up at me.

I nodded and lowered my MP7, no need to threaten the civilians after all, pushing up my tactical goggles, and spoke

"US Navy, we're here to rescue you"


	84. Chapter 84

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **84 Aftermath**

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Brenda's viewpoint

The information Khan was pulling off the Cabal's server from within the dark web…deep web…whatever you called it, was both fascinating and chilling all at once. He'd located a ledger that contained thousands of entries, money going out and much larger sums flowing in. To allow him to keep working he'd copied that and we were now standing around Andy Flynn's desk as he scrolled through it, leaving Ahmed in peace to keep working.

Based on what we were reading, for the last 12 months the Cabal had been paying out expenses of around two hundred and seventy thousand dollars a month, short-term office rentals, innumerable payments to individuals, probably the men who did the kidnappings and transport, the costs to maintain their central computer centre in Victorville, that sort of thing.

Offsetting that they had in, the last two years, been kidnapping between four and nine victims a week with income averaging well in excess of four hundred thousand dollars per victim, a scope that in turn left me astounded and terrified. They had destroyed countless lives and barely registered as a blip on law enforcement's radar while doing so, all the while making millions in the process. The Cabal were quite literally raking in money faster than they could spend it.

At first appearances it seemed that the money was being split to six separate accounts, each receiving one 'share', one for each of the ringleaders with another share being retained to pay for expenses and provide what looked like a cash reserve. It meant the Cabals' leaders were each receiving an average of around two million every month and had been doing so for years, parasites profiting from the misery and lives of others.

I looked down at the screen as the cold determination to see it all destroyed settled over me; soon, very soon we would burn it down I vowed, all of it.

Hearing my cell ringing dragged me away from the screen to retrieve it from my jacket pocket, frowning as I saw Kensi Blye's name come up on it. Wondering what one of the Navy's top criminal investigations people in LA needed from me I stepped away from Andy's desk to answer it.

"Agent Blye, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

" _Chief, you are not going to believe this but I have some really good news for you_ " I felt my eyebrows lift but right now I'd take any I could get.

"That's something that's been rare on the ground lately so I'll take anything you can give me"

" _We've just recovered four kidnapped people, your people apparently_ " I felt my jaw drop, stunned beyond words, finally I recovered enough to be able to talk as I saw Provenza look my way, sudden concern visible in his eyes even as I spoke.

"Please, Agent Blye, would you kindly explain exactly what you just said?" I asked. Kensi obviously knew exactly what sort of bombshell she'd just dropped on me.

" _I have Alexandra Cabot, Maura Isles, Natalie Dearing and Richard Castle with me, recovered safely from a warehouse here in Fullerton_ " For a moment I just closed my eyes in relief, letting a slow breath out along with a huge amount of tension and a small prayer of thanks. Hearing the happy smile in her voice a relieved smile broke out all over my face.

"Oh my dear lord, that's truly wonderful" I saw heads turn all over the Murder Room, taking in my happy, happy smile, seeing tentative smiles breaking out. "Where are they?"

" _Unit six, at the Fullerton Industrial Park out here in Fullerton_ " I looked round and started nodding, seeing people's smiles turn into happy grins, they were all smart, perceptive people, they'd immediately realised what was going on from my reaction.

"Please Kensi, stay on the line, I need to know more, but we're on our way" I looked around.

"They've been found people, Fullerton Industrial Park; alert both teams, everyone needs to know, and let's get moving"

 **Los Angeles Malibu**

Jane's viewpoint

Ten minutes after leaving and we were exiting the van in an open air car park Hayley had previously confirmed had no camera's covering it, on the way there we'd changed out of our tactical clothes in the back of the van, everything bar our gloves, then I'd swapped with Ana at the wheel as she'd rapidly stripped out of her tactical gear and into replacement clothes. The discarded clothing, belts, boots and weapons, radios, everything except our gloves which we kept on, went into a big sports bag before we pulled up next to a nondescript Nissan sedan. The others had piled out the back with the bag as I exited the van where we found Alexis was waiting for us, standing next to a rented Nissan.

"It went okay?" she asked, the hope evident in her voice. Several of us had nodded as Kate spoke.

"All good, we didn't see him of course, but Hayley's watching over them until help arrives"

"Oh thank god" For a moment she looked like she was going to cry before she rallied, concentrating on the job to be done though the relieved smile that had appeared was a joy to see, before she moved on to the next part of the plan. "On your way then, I'll take care of this"

Alexis handed me the keys to the Nissan, swapping them for the van keys as I noted her carefully gloved hands, before she'd headed for the van. She'd hopped in and driven off, she'd return the van to the rental office's express returns area, dropping the key's and paperwork in a box and not having to interact with anyone there, Hayley had rented the van with a fake driver's license and credit card and hopefully, if anybody had seen and remembered the van leaving the area and spoke to the investigating team, it'd lead to a dead end.

We'd considered dumping it somewhere unlocked, to be stolen, or torching it ourselves, before deciding that would bring the LAPD into the picture much quicker. Better that the vehicle should just go back into the system and be rented out again, further muddying our tracks.

After that Alexis would head back and collect Hayley from near where she'd dump the Prius before heading to the next rendezvous.

We'd walked over to the Nissan, dumping the bag in the back then driven off, following Alexis out the car park; she turned one way while we went the other, heading for our rented Tahoe where we could strip off the tactical gloves. After Alexis collected Hayley they'd drive to where the Nissan was and collect it, their job was making sure the bag and its contents would vanish completely, never to be found, plus returning the Nissan to a completely different rental company in a different part of LA, hopefully burying another trail.

20 minutes later and we'd parked the sedan on a side street and swapped to the Tahoe; heading back to the Malibu place we'd paused to dump the gloves in a gas station trash can on the way. On arriving at the house we parked the Tahoe out of sight in the garage then raced upstairs, stripping down to our underwear we jumped into the pool, getting thoroughly covered in chlorinated water before climbing out again, wrapping towels around us and pairing off. Liv and Kate headed to one shower while Ana and I dived into another.

All modesty was forgotten as we stripped and got into the shower, I stood naked under the steaming water as Ana vigorously scrubbed my hands and body with a loofah and using a vast amount of scented body wash to remove any trace of gunpowder residue, any which the chlorine hadn't already covered and diluted, washing my hair twice before turning to allow me to do the same. Ten minutes later we emerged, drying our hair and getting dressed, throwing the clothes we'd just worn into a washing machine with plenty of powder and fragranced fabric softener, that'd cover up any faint traces of gunpowder residue they may have picked up off our skin, making any forensics examination pretty much useless, something I'd learnt from Maura years ago during a case years before back in Boston.

As she had put it with more than a hint of exasperation; ' _when it comes to a criminal's forensic evidence, cleanliness is not a virtue_ '. It felt strange, using four lifetimes of accumulated professional knowledge to make an investigation go nowhere, but it had to be done if we were to pull this off. After all, we knew the caliber of the people who would be looking into the firefight at the warehouse, with people that outstanding on the case we couldn't afford to take any chances.

Now dressed in clean fresh clothes we'd made our way into the living area and started urgently cleaning up, pulling all the notes we had on the case off the whiteboards, tossing them into trash bags. Into the bags went anything that might tie us to the investigation, notebooks, writing pads, USB's, all garbage bagged and into the back of Kate's rental Audi they went, as did all three laptops, it was just way too risky to hang onto them when we'd all seen what an I.T. specialist like Khan could do to one, nothing on a computer was safe from his digging so they had to go.

It was a frenetic twenty five minute's work and we'd barely finished moving the freshly scrubbed whiteboards down the elevator and into the panic room downstairs where they weren't immediately visible to any visitors when my cell went off; seeing Brenda's name there I answered it, fighting to keep my voice calm.

"Hi Brenda, what's up?" I saw the other three's heads turn as they stopped to listen.

" _Jane, I have the most wonderful news, Maura and the others have all been recovered safe and sound_ " I didn't have to fake my relief at that news. Hayley and Kensi Blye had come through for us

"That's wonderful, where are they?"

Two minutes later we were in the Audi, retracing our journey to Fullerton.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Mac Taylor's viewpoint

I walked back out of the warehouse into the early evening gloom to see the Chief talking to the NCIS woman, Blye; not far away a set of huge 'daymaker' lights on their trailer were being set up to light up the area like daylight. Blye had been the one to get the call; her team had arrived pronto and investigated, discovering the mess inside and calling it in. Now the scene was awash in cops, Feds of all persuasions, EMTs and MEs. In fact the entire enlarged Major Crimes and ME teams had rolled out after they'd heard that we'd recovered the hostages, as much to see them as to clean up what looked like a bloody warzone.

I'd rarely seen a scene as bad before this case, the building was full of dead bodies, almost a dozen of them all up, the place was a Tarantino movie set in there, the sharp, coppery scent of blood cloyingly heavy in your nose, it reminded me all too much of the aftermath of the Mercy General attack, only with flies buzzing around everywhere here.

I could see all four of our recovered people off by the ambulances being given a preliminary check over by the EMT's before transport to hospital, but no one was planning on moving them, not just yet.

I saw a lull in the Chief's conversation and walked over into the huddle, getting a nod and a formal introduction from the Chief.

"Lieutenant Taylor, NYPD, this is Special Agent Blye, Naval Criminal Investigative Service" We exchanged nods before she spoke, curiosity in her voice.

"NYPD?" I shrugged.

"I was here when the Cabal tried to blow up my hotel room, along with some other cops, so I stuck around to help out" The Chief stepped in.

"This has been an inter-agency task force with participants from all over the country, fortunately for us, we couldn't have solved it without everyone's cooperation" Blye nodded as I got started.

"As you're aware, eleven dead in there, all male, weapons scattered about, including pistols, M4s and a pump action shotgun, whoever hit this place wasn't messing around" I shook my head, remembering the bodies upstairs in particular. "Definitely someone with a high-powered weapon shooting in through the window" I turned and pointed to the roof of a building adjacent to the crime scene. "Have to have been from up there" I looked back. "The sniper's victims are a bloody mess so almost certainly using specialty ammunition" Blye nodded.

"They were all dead when we arrived, lots of messy wounds bar the guy in the doorway at the front, he had his neck broken. As for the others I'd suggest maybe hollow point, that's what I'd have used in their place, plus two of them look like they were executed" At the Chief's questioning look she explained. "Both were wounded but had then received bullets to the forehead"

"Professionals?" the Chief asked, drawing a frown from both of us.

"Maybe, they seemed to have taken them all down and lost no one doing it" I said, drawing a head shake from Blye.

"Or if they did, they took their dead with them; that's standard M.O. for a lot of Special Forces and black ops outfits" I nodded, remembering something I'd been told.

"Yeah, deny the enemy any intel or a body to show off as a trophy" Seeing the Chief's brow furrow in thought Blye spoke.

"What are you thinking Chief?" She shook her head.

"Just remembering my old life with the CIA, that was their thing too. Sorry" She focused back on us. "How many people do you think would be needed to do the job?" I thought about it for a second and shrugged; really glad it hadn't been me going in there. I still had the occasional nightmare about that power station shootout back in New York, this would have been probably worse. I'd spent two days in the hospital after taking a rifle shot to the back, the vest I'd been wearing had stopped the bullet but the shock had left me a badly bruised, stiff and sore mess for almost two weeks afterwards. At least back then the place had been surrounded and I'd gone in with Benson, Beckett, Shaw and a full SWAT team beside me. Here, against these odds…

"Has to be a minimum of four people to take on ten, even with a sniper shooting from outside" I said, then shook my head. "Gutsy move though, I wouldn't have wanted to storm a place like this against well-armed opponents who outnumber me" Blye nodded and picked up the thread.

"Nor I, I'd want at least six well-trained people, Marine Force Recon or Seals maybe, plus I'd do what I could to even the odds, go in at night, kill the lights as we did so we had a night vision advantage, hit them hard and fast so they didn't have time to react" Blye stated.

The Chief nodded and went to say something but was distracted by a commotion off behind us, her suddenly widening smile telling me what it was before I turned to watch.

 **Los Angeles Fullerton Industrial Park**

Jane's viewpoint

Almost 40 minutes later, having made a slight detour to offload the trash bags into a dumpster on the way, we arrived to find the area around the industrial park a sea of black and whites, bathing the scene in the usual lurid light show. The uniformed cops stopped us but fortunately Khan was there to get us waved through until Kate pulled up when we couldn't go any further through the parked vehicles, Liv and Ana were already out and running before I could get out of the seat. Slamming the door shut I tore off after the others, Kate right behind me, ducking between people and vehicles, hearing people call after me but ignoring them as I broke through and saw them there; saw Maura.

They were all standing or sitting around ambulances being seen to by the EMTs. Having seen the others just arrive she had stood and was looking round for me, the sudden transition from hope to joy on her face when she saw me matched with mine as I ran the final distance, best of all she looked unharmed, tired and a bit disheveled maybe, but she'd never been as important or looked as beautiful to me as right now.

Reaching her I swept her up into a hug like I'd never let her go, I certainly didn't want to.

We stood there as I reveled in just having her alive and well in my arms, seeing her look up into my face, eyes filling with teams before she burrowed into my arms, feeling Maura's shakes as she cried in my embrace, holding her close as I tried to murmur something reassuring. I don't know how successful I was, feeling her tears soaking my shoulder, I had a dreadful lump in my throat and my eyes were watering.

Desperate to not cry like a fool, I glanced around, seeing Kate a few feet away, Rick sitting on a gurney in front of an ambulance, an EMT standing by, a little bemused maybe as Kate peppered Rick's face with kisses, then stepped back, running her eyes over him, caressing his face, tears visible even as she smiled sadly before kissing him some more, the happiness in his face obvious to everyone, even as I took in the clean fresh surgical dressing on his hand..

Liv was sitting on the step of another ambulance, she'd reached out and half lifted, half pulled Alex off her feet and into her lap and now cradled her close, almost wrapped around her protectively, their heads together as each cried, not urgent, just relieved tears as they reveled in their togetherness once more.

Ana though, she'd completely lost it, she'd crumpled to the ground, on her knees with her arms wrapped around Nat's legs, crying into her torn skirt, big hiccupy sobs wrenched from her throat as she gave in to the emotions she'd repressed for so long, dreadful sounds of pain and anguish, before Natalie gently but firmly disentangled herself from Ana and dropped to the ground, pulling Ana into her arms as they clung to each other, sitting there on the ground, rocking gently together, both crying freely, with pain and joy and relief.

I saw the other cops and M.E.s, Brenda and Sharon, Murphy, Hunt, Khan and Provenza and all the others, Duquesne and Taylor, Danville and Caine and Blye and the rest all standing there turn and face away, giving us time and privacy as I felt another shudder run through Maura, leaning down I kissed the top of her head, whispering meaningless reassurances to her again, before finally giving in to the tears as we cried together, in happiness and sadness and utter bone-weary relief.

 **Los Angeles Bellflower Rodeway Inn**

It was getting late; it was almost 10 and Simmonds was getting ready to head out to the warehouse, having earlier procured a sharp hand axe from a hardware store to take care of Castle. He paused as his cell went off then picked it up, frowning at the name; it was Tony, the other shift leader for his team of guards at the warehouse.

"Yeah, what's up?"

" _It's the warehouse, the place is swarming with cops_ " This time Simmonds didn't even try to stop the snarl.

"What the fuck!" With effort he got himself back under control. "What's happened?"

" _Don't know, I just got there to find a pile of black and whites, they've got the place cordoned off, secured tight, there has to be at least a hundred cops there, plus a ton of other agencies as well_ "

"The hostages?"

" _No idea, I just drove past, slowed down to have a look like everyone else then got the fuck out of there_ "

"Did you see any of your team?"

" _Nope, they would have seen the same thing I did and bugged out"_ He paused then continued. _"I did see a couple of dark vans with Medical Examiner on the side, so there's bound to be some dead on site_ " Simmonds nodded, getting himself back under some sort of control. Finally he spoke.

"Contact your team and tell everyone to bug out, if any of Bob's people were arrested, they know you and the others were involved"

" _How the hell did they find us?_ " Tony quite understandably asked, making it obvious to Simmonds that he wasn't yet aware of the true depths of the fucked up situation he had suddenly found himself in.

"Good question, I'll bet real money it was that useless cunt Moore" Simmonds stated firmly, having already made the connection lightning fast, something Tony hadn't yet done.

" _Moore, why in Christ's name would he do that, for fuck's sake?_ "

"He tried to fuck one of those blonde sluts and got caught, so Bob kicked him off the team and tossed him out, less than 24 hours later the cops show up out of nowhere" Simmonds shook his head, in anger and frustration. "You think that's a coincidence cause I sure as fuck don't" Tony's summation was a brutal as it was pithy.

" _Useless fucker_ "

"He's cost me my leverage to get Danny sprung, something he's gonna pay for" Simmonds shook his head angrily. "Contact your crew, tell 'em to get the fuck out of town and lay low, you gotta figure the cops will be looking into known associates of the people they caught in there and that's a big sign pointing to all of you" Tony was starting to calm down and realise that he was a marked man, they all were.

" _Oh Jesus, what a cluster fuck_ " Simmonds nodded then brutally cut his ties to all of them.

"Get moving and get out of town, LAs gonna be too hot for you for a long time to come." He paused. "Maybe get out of the country, every cop in the country's going to be looking for you" With that he ended the call and then pulled the battery from the phone, Tony had called this number and you had to figure the cops would be onto that soon enough.

It was time to move motels again; if they identified Tony's involvement then they'd move heaven and earth to find him, they'd drag him in and start tracing his cell, looking at who he'd called. They'd find this number soon enough then track down the phone's signal, they'd narrow down the area it had been, then they'd start checking the motels in the area and he didn't want to be here when the cops came calling. He was tempted to leave another explosive calling card for them but decided he didn't have enough to time to get to his storage place, get the explosives and other material and get back here, then set things up, not when the cops could show up anytime.

He turned the television to one of the local news stations to see an older, dark-haired woman in a tailored suit, obviously standing in for that blonde slut as the cop's media woman, standing outside the industrial park speaking to the camera, answering a question.

" _The hostages were recovered without further injury, in an operation that has involved both Federal agencies and the LAPD. The LAPD is extremely grateful to those agencies that have played a part in the recovery of the kidnapped individual_ "

" _Commander Raydor…_ " the off-camera male reporter said. " _Can you provide further information about the identity of the kidnappers and their motivation?_ " The brunette nodded slowly then spoke.

" _As your viewers may be aware, the kidnapped individuals were taken by associates of Danny Wynter, they claimed that they wished to exchange the victims for Mister Wynter's freedom_ " She paused for a second then continued. " _The kidnappers had absolutely no intention of returning our people, and in fact had already told their victims of their intended fate_ "

"Which was?"

" _The kidnapped women were to be sold to overseas purchasers for use as sex slaves while Mister Castle was to be killed once they obtained what they wanted_ " The reporter paused for a few seconds, then pushed on.

"And Mister Castle's condition, we understand he was injured?" The reporter asked.

" _Mister Castle was subjected to brutal treatment at the hands of their captors…_ " Simmonds snorted at that, what he'd done wasn't even close to what he considered brutal, he'd even used a sharp knife. " _…and he is currently receiving medical attention, as are all of the rescued victims_ "

" _Do you believe that this operation, which resulted in the hostages being freed, signifies the end of these actions by alleged associates of Mister Wynter, given their recent attacks on law enforcement agencies across LA?_ " The reporter asked. As he watched the brunette, she must have been in her fifties but still looked good, answered calmly.

" _No, we have reason to believe that a number of his associates remain at large, in particular the person responsible for many of these attacks in the first place, an individual named Justin Simmons_ " Simmons swallowed convulsively at being named, that act made him feel acutely exposed, he'd been a ghost in the shadows ever since he'd got out of that Iraqi prison, to be out in the public like that…. The woman however pressed on.

" _We continue to close in on Mister Simmonds and his associates and hope to make further arrests soon_ "

With that he turned away and started packing.


	85. Chapter 85

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **85 Awkward questions**

 **Washington DC FBI Headquarters Cyber Crimes Division**

Avery Brooks' viewpoint

I ended the call and smiled happily to myself. In this job the wins were usually hard fought and few and far between. Usually, but not today, I turned and walked back into the tank, moving to the centre.

"Everybody, listen up" I saw head come up and turn my way. "I have good news, lots of it actually, from Los Angeles" I saw the interest and hope in people's eyes, we'd all become invested in beating the Cabal, what I had to tell them as going to make for a very happy team. "As you're aware, the LAPD have recovered the kidnapped people safe and mostly well and they've been safely reunited with their families." I saw smiles break out, together with a few 'all right's' and 'thank god's', but Elijah honed in on the caveat.

"What does 'mostly' mean Avery?"

"To extort the release of the Cabal leader, the kidnappers cut off one of Richard Castle's fingers, as you're aware, and were going to cut off his hand to send to the media, together with another video tape" I shook my head. "Fortunately, they were rescued before that could happen" Elijah nodded as did some of the others; the morning news had carried their rescue, now it was time to give them the next piece of good news. "The LAPD has located and gained access to one of the Cabal's main servers in the deep web, it had multi-stage encryption, involving scanned barcodes, but they have gained access and are searching through that site as we speak, backing everything up as they do. They are sending the scanned barcodes through so we too have access to everything they've found, but apparently it's terabytes of information on the Cabal's activities, financials, contacts and actions. One thing they do have though is the group's ledgers, records going back years, they're anonymous apparently but that's not stopped us before and it won't here either"

That turned the smiles into grins, that sort of material closed cases and got convictions, exactly what we all worked so hard for.

"I should warn you that as far as the LAPD have found, with the exception of the ledger, that is only material on the Cabal leader in Los Angeles and their operations on the west coast, plus some connections to other members in other states" I shrugged slightly. "LA surmises that each of the other leaders ran similar systems on their own areas"

"So what are we looking for boss?" asked Brodie Nelson.

"We have the account that paid for the hire of accommodation do we not?" I got a nod from Raven, confirming that. "Excellent. We are pulling in a group of field agents who will go through the Cabal's ledgers, looking at matching payments to when victims were kidnapped and then cross matching those times with the locations of those rentals" I looked around. "If we find money changed hands on a certain date, we can then look for where offices were rented at that time, then for anyone who went missing during that period, people who fit the criteria the Cabal wanted"

"Lot of work there Avery" Elijah cautioned, drawing a nod from me.

"That's why we're being given a lot of resources, it's the directive from the Attorney-General and the White House that this has priority and we are to look at arresting the Cabal leadership within 48 hours" I saw that hit everyone hard, that was really quick, but when the White House demanded action, people moved. "Given its Los Angeles' case they will be taking the lead but the Bureau will be an integral part of every arrest right across the country"

"That's gonna be great" Krummitz said, getting nods of support from everyone, time for the next piece of news.

"To support those arrests we are to use our tunnel into the servers in that place out in the California desert, we're to make a remote copy of anything we can find on, in particular any vehicles transporting victims when the raids happen. We don't want the drivers learning of it and disposing of their victims to cover their tracks" I got suddenly serious nods as I remembered that beautiful woman, Susan Carter, kidnapped from her home town and now on her way to Dallas to be some rich bastard's sex toy, Right then and there I vowed she would see her home again, even if I had to go down there and do the arrest myself. Shaking that off, I looked round the room.

"When the arrests take place, you will all be accompanying the teams arresting the cabal leadership, taking their computers into custody, you'll be heading out to Miami, New York, Chicago and Houston, apparently that's where the rest of the Cabal's leadership are based, it'll be your job to take charge of their computers, find the access barcodes and get the information on each area's operations, for the local police, for the Bureau's own files and to support the eventual trials and convictions of everyone involved in this Cabal" I saw nods around the room as I smiled.

"We've already played a big part of investigating what's looking like the biggest sex slavery operation the country's ever seen; now you're going to be an integral part of shutting them down and sending them away for life"

The high-fives and grins around the room were contagious and I found myself grinning along with them.

 **Los Angeles Crenshaw Travel Inn Motel**

The conference call had been…unpleasant. Not that any of the others had been so crass as to blame him for what had happened, it was just he wasn't used to reporting failure, let alone abject failure, something he found acutely embarrassing. Now though he was wrapping up his report.

"The cops have no connection to any of you, you've severed your connections to Danny's operations and so while the cops have recovered our leverage in getting him sprung, they're at a dead end"

"I understand from the news that they know you were involved, the cops named you specifically" Frank said, making Simmonds scowl, fucking cops…

"Yeah, I saw that too" Kurt backed Frank up, drawing a defensive reply from Simmonds.

"They have a name, but I'm in the wind, they're no closer to catching me than they were a month ago" It was a blatant lie, the local cops had got way too close for comfort a couple of times, Johnson and her team were proving a fucking nightmare to deal with but he wasn't going to mention it to these men, he had a rep to maintain.

"So what happens with Danny now?" Vic asked.

"I still have my communications line open with Danny via his lawyer; I'll stay in contact and see about getting him out another way"

"How, the cops have your leverage?" Vic pointed out, making Simmonds wince a little before he recovered and replied.

"True, but he's going to be moved around when his case comes to trial, that's a possibility for a snatch and grab there"

"That has to be months away though" Frank commented.

"That gives me enough time to get a team ready and trained up, with the right firepower we can take out the escorts and crack the transport vehicle, do it right and we can be gone in less than 60 seconds, easy" He shrugged. "It's not like the cops have a line on the scope of your organisation, or the amount of merchandise you're shifting, so for the moment they don't have anything except Danny and he's not telling them nothing" He mentally shrugged. "Your operations are still secure and so are you"

"You say so" John said, speaking up for the first time, making Simmonds frown. He could tell his stature with this group had diminished, plus he'd been closest to Danny, not so close with the rest of them, unlike Danny they weren't his friends, just associates. He was appreciated for the job he did and respected for the results he got; now both had taken a hit. He wasn't in any danger but he felt his position was less assured right now, certainly a lot less than it had been before this whole mess in LA had started.

"Get back to us when you know more about getting Danny back" Vic said. With that the conference call ended, leaving Simmonds contemplating his future.

Maybe he should make sure his exit plans were up to date, just in case.

 **Los Angeles LAPD Major Crimes**

Jane's viewpoint

"A number of questions have been raised about the team who attacked the warehouse and allowed for the rescue of the hostages" I felt tiny jolt of panic run through me before I stilled it, looking across at Brenda as I tried for calm.

I was sitting in Brenda's office late morning the day after the rescue. After we'd arrived at the industrial park Maura and the others had eventually been transported to hospital and kept overnight for observation so we'd stayed with them there, having made it very clear what would happen if anyone tried separating us from them, fortunately there'd been an outbreak of common sense before anyone did something foolish.

Natalie had been sporting a bad bruise across one side of her face, apparently one of her captors had hit her during an attempted rape, he'd not succeeded but the look on Ana's face as she'd been told what had happened had been frightening, for a moment the monster was back, raging wildly behind her eyes, before she'd stamped down on her emotions and concentrated on just being there for Nat right now, giving her all the support she needed, though I found myself hoping the would-be rapist was amongst the dead stacked up downstairs in the morgue, otherwise Ana's eventual retribution would be horrible.

The general consensus of the attending doctors after a full medical was that Maura, Natalie and Alex were generally fine, physically at least. They were stiff and sore from their confinement, slightly malnourished and dehydrated but generally okay, nothing that rest, good food and lots of TLC wouldn't fix. Mentally was a different story though, Maura had woken several times during the night as I'd sat in a chair by the bed, protectively watching over her. The slightest noise was enough to disturb her restless sleep, the nurses coming in to take her observations, people walking past outside her room, any noise at all. At other times she'd been subject to nightmares, once I'd heard her whimpering in her sleep and, leaning in, I'd heard he mumbling ' _no, no, no_ ' over and over again until I'd taken her into my arms, feeling her tears and shakes, it took a while and a lot of soothing reassurances before I could calm her and she could eventually drift back to sleep.

It hadn't taken a rocket scientist to work out what her nightmare was about, something I'd confirmed with Liv and Ana this morning; they'd had the same experiences with Alex and Nat. God knows how bad Rick had been, Kate had just grimly shaken her head when I'd asked.

The doctors had run a massive battery of tests and in-depth scans of Rick's hand, after which they'd proclaimed that the efforts of Maura and the others in keeping it clean and dressed had prevented it being worse than it might have been. They'd properly cleaned and dressed it and given him a big dose of antibiotics, a prescription for a month's more and directions to get it seen to and dressed by a doctor every few days for the next month, before announcing that he and the others would be released into our care this morning.

Hayley and Alexis had brought changes of clothes for Maura and the others while we'd waited at the hospital; Alexis' reunion with her dad had been particularly harrowing, reminding me that she'd come close to losing him yet again, apparently this wasn't the first time he'd been in danger, but by far the worst. Rick, Kate and Alexis had sealed themselves in his room for almost 30 minutes while Hayley stood guard at the door, politely but firmly blocking anyone, even the doctors and nurses, from going in, ensuring they weren't interrupted. A few people tried arguing the toss with her but she could be scary when she wanted to be, a bit of the person she'd been with MI6 showing through I guess; whatever the reason the door had stayed shut and they'd remained undisturbed. I had no idea what was said in there but Alexis was red-eyed when she emerged, burrowing into Hayley's arms for another long cry before Hayley had eventually taken her back to Liv and Alex's where they'd be staying for another few days or so before heading home to New York.

The look on Kate's face afterwards had been grim; I could almost see the warring desires on her face, looking after Rick on one hand, hunting down and killing Simmonds slowly and painfully on the other, something the rest of us completely understood. When it came down to it though it was no contest, our partners needed us, that was all that mattered, we'd leave Simmonds up to the rest of the team to take run down and deal while we took care of our own.

Now though I fought to stay calm and looked across to Brenda and replied as casually as I could manage; looking to deflect her into side alleys and away from any suggestions of our potential involvement in the rescue.

"Oh, yeah, how big a team are we talking about here?" She regarded me for a moment then replied.

"Preliminary forensics suggests that there were two different weapon types used in the rescue, a high-powered rifle and pistols, probably 9 mill, suggesting at least a minimum of two people involved, a sniper covering the hostages and another, although there has to be more, you don't take on ten people solo, so figure two or three extras in the assult" I nodded, then spoke up, it would have been out of character not too.

"Or maybe the sniper joined the others, switching to a pistol when they did, maybe"

Brenda regarded me across the desk for a few long seconds; we were having a chat in her office as Maura sat in one of the Interrogation rooms giving a full statement to Provenza and Duquesne. I hadn't been allowed to sit in with her given I was still on suspension, but I was happy it was Provenza; he'd be as gentle as possible. Alex was being questioned by Kahn and Bonasera, Flynn and Taylor were talking to Natalie and Caine and Booth were taking Rick's statement.

I'd casually mentioned to Provenza that I'd appreciate them being gentle with Maura; Ana had backed me up, a lot less politely, telling Flynn that if he upset Natalie in any way she'd personally tear his nuts off with her bare hands and force-feed them to him till he choked. He'd almost smiled till he'd got a good look at her face, he'd taken in the dangerous burn in her eyes and realised she meant every word then nodded once.

Now though Liv and Kate were off organising our transport out of here once we'd finished while Ana was getting things arranged at the other end, the sooner we were away from LA the better. We'd already decided we needed time to ourselves, to deal with everything that had happened, to heal and to just be together far from LA and all it represented. In the meantime we were still waiting on their statements to finish up, which left me sitting with Brenda who, not surprisingly, wanted to talk about the case.

"Whoever they were, they were good, left no survivors, no prints, why even the spent casings were clean, no forensic evidence of any kind" I nodded as she continued. "Given they were so careful I'm willing to bet forensics will turn up that the weapons used have no prior usage and no history in the database" I gave the impression of thinking it over for a bit before replying.

"Figure they used gloves and wiped everything?" I pursed my lips even as I mentally thanked Liv and Kate for their insistence on being super careful, even to the point of wiping down every round we'd loaded. "Certainly sounds like professionals" Brenda nodded.

"It surely does, they apparently knew what we'd be looking for and made sure we'd find nothing" She glanced out at the murder room for a moment, lost in thought as I sat very still before she finally came back to me. "If they were professionals, and everything we've seen so far suggests they were, it's unlikely the weapons would ever turn up, wouldn't you say?" I nodded once before replying.

"Seems unlikely, given they were so careful about everything else you'd figure they'd take no chances with the weapons either" In fact the weapons and gear were sitting in a U-Store-It facility, later tonight Hayley would collect the bag and load it onto a rented jet-ski, too small to be easily tracked on radar, she'd head well offshore and dump it all in very deep water. Weighted down with the rifle and pistols it'd sink like a stone, never be seen again, helping make our alibi just that little bit more airtight. Brenda regarded me for a while then nodded.

"I expect they would be, very careful indeed I mean" She shrugged. "Perhaps something will turn up on the forensics side…here's hoping" I thought about it for a moment then spoke up, trying to divert her suspicions, very, very carefully. Brenda was a trained interrogator; I couldn't risk overplaying my hand with her.

"I've got no idea who it was or even why they did it, maybe some kind of turf war with another criminal group maybe, or given it was called in, maybe someone who knew about it tipped off their rivals and then called it in, damned if I know, but I'm just happy it turned out okay" Brenda nodded at that before replying.

"Something we can all agree on" She tipped her head. "I am wondering why the call went to Blye and her team though?" I nodded.

"Yeah, that's weird" I shrugged "I can't figure that one out" I said. "Why not just call the LAPD, they were our people, we'd have responded"

That wasn't exactly true; the actual reason we hadn't gone with that was that the LAPD gets thousands of 911 calls a day, including many hundreds of crank calls, Hayley's call could have been flagged as one of them, it might have got a black and white sent around, eventually, or it might not, and if it had it might have tipped off Simmonds' people, something we couldn't risk. Calling Kensi Blye instead had got her immediate attention and she and her heavily-armed team had rapidly descended on the warehouse, ready to blow holes in anyone who so much as looked at them sideways; from our perspective a far better bet. Sure it had been a risk, but we'd agreed it was too important not to go with her. Now it was time to try and divert attention away from us, I had a response for that already worked out, trying to send Brenda and the team down another rabbit hole.

"Maybe, given Simmonds used a bunch of former Army and Marine people, one of the ex-Marines knew of the NCIS team?" I suggested. "If it was one of the people he had working for him who didn't like what Simmonds had planned for the hostages, they could have called it in, that might explain it" I tipped my head to regard her as I continued. "As I understand it there two teams switching the guard duty, maybe it was someone from the other team, they tipped it off while they weren't there" Seeing Brenda thinking that over I glanced out of the office, looking for Maura but she wasn't back yet, instead I took in the Murder Room, everyone not taking statements was bent over a computer, obviously super busy. Given another chance to divert her attention from us I asked the question.

"What's happened?" At my comment Brenda raised an eyebrow and hummed a question, not following me. I waved towards the area outside and she got what I meant.

"Ah yes, we've had a breakthrough; we've managed to get access to one of the Cabal's servers. So far we've found links to everything that Wynter was involved in out here on the west coast, plus his connection to the other leaders of the Cabal. His compatriots from Iraq are indeed running the Cabal, though with the information we're recovering, that won't be for much longer" I nodded.

"You have to figure that won't be for much longer anyway, Simmonds must know we've recovered his hostages, given his deadline was midnight last night; that failure and the knowledge that Wynter's definitely going to trial has to make the rest of the Cabal really nervous" Brenda nodded.

"I'm sure it is, but they must believe that his trial is months away, we hope to arrest them all within 48 hours at most" She shrugged. "The biggest issue right now is going through all the data and locating who the victims were, who they were sold to and where they are"

"That could take weeks or months, maybe longer, given how many victims we're looking at" I stated, drawing a rueful nod from Brenda.

"True, fortunately the Bureau's people are backing us up and if there's one thing they have, its resources. They're assigned a whole passel of people and are running searches through everything we've found for potential names and matching them with missing person's lists" She smiled. "It helps that we've located a set of electronic ledgers that cover payments and dates into the cabal, they don't list who paid, just the amounts, but the Bureau's cyber people are running those down as we speak, matching them to missing person dates" I frowned, we didn't want the scum who'd paid the Cabal to get away.

"Any chance you can they find who paid for the victims?" She sat back and smiled even wider.

"Oh yes, we've already had some success tracking back those details through foreign bank accounts, plus we have located their main server building, the one handling the transfer of the victims, we'll be raiding that at the same time as the rest of the Cabal arrests"

"They spent a lot of time building their operation up…" I observed. "…and caused no end of misery along the way"

"It may have taken them years to build, but we will be tearing it down in the space of hours, all over the country" Brenda stated confidently.

"How so?" I asked, puzzled by her certainty.

"The FBI Director had already been briefed in, as you'd expect, but once he got a full update on what we'd found online yesterday, he went straight to the White House first thing this morning DC time, armed with a folder full of victim photos. The President heard him out then directed him to ensure we got every possible cooperation from everyone, or else they'd answer directly to him personally" She smiled. "I've heard from my contact within the Bureau, a Director Brooks, that it's the number one priority for the Bureau"

"Wow, that's one hell of a top cover" I said, truly impressed. She nodded.

"I've been told that apparently his daughter was in the meeting and the Director pointed out that she was exactly the sort of person the Cabal would have kidnapped if they could, young, blonde and beautiful" Brenda shrugged. "The President also didn't like it when it was mentioned that Maura and the others were supposed to have been sold to middle eastern buyers, something that might have been his daughter's fate too, especially as she's Jewish" I nodded, that made sense for all the wrong reasons. Brenda meanwhile was still speaking. "So the White House and the President himself have let it be known, they have a personal interest in seeing the Cabal shut down, the word's gone out, cooperate or else and no one wants to see the 'or else', so everyone's playing nice as"

I nodded, nothing like having the full weight of the White House to scare people into line. Brenda looked at me speculatively for a moment then leaned forward, her hands clasped on her desk.

"Jane, do you know anything about a man named Inashi?" I carefully held myself very, very still at the sudden change of topic, realising it was one of Brenda's techniques, before looking at her curiously.

"No, can't say I have, why?" She looked at me for a long time as I desperately tried not to fidget under her gaze before she spoke.

"Just a suspect we were looking for, a Yakuza, someone got to him before we did and tore his place apart, he's not been seen since" I shrugged, desperately trying for calm, nonchalance even.

"Well, if he was a Yak, there's lots of people out there who don't like them a whole lot, given their methods. I mean look at the issues we had with them a while back with those home invasions, they were pretty brutal. I can't blame anyone having a beef with them, so maybe someone came after him" She nodded slowly, watching me.

"Someone indeed did" I nodded agreeably and sat there waiting her out, until she spoke again. "So you've never heard of him then?"

"Afraid not" I said. Brenda watched for me for a few more long seconds before, with a smile, she changed the subject.

"How is Maura doing?" I shrugged, trying for a nonchalance I didn't possess.

"As well as can be expected" It wasn't a complete lie; both the EMTs at the scene and the doctors at the hospital where they'd all been kept overnight for observation had proclaimed her unharmed, physically anyway, a little dehydrated and slightly underweight but otherwise physically unharmed. The same was true of most of the others, though Rick had been pumped full of antibiotics to counter any infection that might develop in his hand, though apparently Maura had kept it well dressed, each of the others having sacrificed strips of cloth from their clothes to make fresh bandages. It'd heal, eventually, something I hoped was true of them all mentally too.

Before I could continue I caught movement at the entrance to Major Crimes, it wasn't any of ours; instead Pope was standing there looking round. I felt my blood start boiling as I silently snarled to myself, ' _That pompous prick_ '. Something Brenda must have seen, as her gaze followed mine, before her voice spoke soothingly.

"I'll deal with him Jane, leave it to me" I gave her a deadly serious look as I leveled with her.

"Better get him out of here before Liv or I get to him, or even worse Ana or god help him, Kate does" She nodded once, understanding exactly what was a stake and stood.

"Wait here; I'll get rid of him" With that she left, leaving me to sit and think, my mind drifting back to that insane few minutes in the warehouse. We'd been so damned lucky, looking back at that firefight it could have gone wrong so many ways, that we'd not only survived, but come though unscathed, was a major miracle. I still remembered that guy, the pistol pointed at me, that triumphant ' _Yes!_ ', if Liv hadn't been there and got her shot off first I'd have died in that warehouse.

I didn't doubt I'd be coming back to that particular memory over and over again for a long while to come, probably with a side helping of nightmares as well, as I tried to come to terms with what I'd done, the risks we'd taken and the lives I'd ended. They'd be added to the already long list of dead I'd left behind me over the years.

Brenda was as good as her word, somehow getting rid of Pope quickly as I waited then being called over to Khan's desk, seeing her bustling around the rest of the team, following up on what they'd found; normally I'd be all over that but right now I just wanted Maura, to see her, to hold her, to know she was safe.

Finally she arrived, escorted by Provenza, seeing her I got to my feet and made my way out into the Murder Room, seeing Maura's eyes scanning around the room then stopping when she saw me, a small smile appearing even as we made our way towards each other, the sight making me happy. I gathered her into my arms and we held each other for a moment before I stepped back a little, seeing Provenza give me a tiny nod before heading off.

"How are you babe, are you okay?" She nodded once.

"Better now that you are here and I know I will be, eventually" I nodded at that as I saw Rick walk in with Stella. They spoke for a moment before they nodded at each other and he looked around. I fished out my cell and, with an apologetic smile to Maura, sent a text to Kate that Rick was out. He saw us and walked our way, getting and returning nods from the team.

"Is Kate around?" he asked, drawing a nod and an answer from me.

"Yeah, just getting transport arranged. We'll be on our way out of here as soon as possible" Maura looked to me.

"Where are we going?" I gave her a reassuring smile.

"Wyoming" That drew a nod from her and a confused look from Rick, one he turned on me as he asked the obvious.

"Wyoming, what's there?" I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Home, a safe and secure home"


	86. Chapter 86

**Intersecting Lines Book 3**

 **86 Refuge**

 **Los Angeles San Quentin Penitentiary**

Irene Simms viewpoint

I watched as Wynter finished the pre-recorded message on his cell, shutting it off with a vicious snarl, despite my best efforts I couldn't hold a smile in, I'd seen the news and knew exactly what was in the message from Simmonds to Wynter. He angrily slammed the phone down on the table in front of him, the chains restricting his movements rattling noisily, before he looked up and took me in.

"What the fuck's your problem bitch?" I pulled the smile in and looked to my erstwhile 'client'.

"I do not have a problem Mister Wynter. In fact, based on the coverage on last night's news, it would appear that it is you who have a problem" I raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps now, given that your schemes have unraveled and that it is unlikely you will avoid a trial, we might start actually beginning your preparations for your appearance before a jury" I looked at him and crossed my arms. "Unless, of course you would like to change your plea to guilty and save us all some time?" His face reddened with fury.

"What the hell does that mean?" I kept my voice calm and level, with effort.

"Mister Wynter, we are both aware that you are guilty, and that despite my best efforts, you will be found guilty, the evidence against you is simply overwhelming" I shrugged. "I will defend you to the best of my abilities however I fear that my efforts will be simply delaying the inevitable"

"Watch yourself bitch or something bad might happen to you too" I stared down at him and smiled nastily; I'd foreseen that reaction.

"I understand that Mister Wynter, if I do not play ball I will receive another visit from your associate, however I might point out that I am not as unprepared as you might believe" I stared down at him, loathing for this contemptible slaver filling every fibre of my being. "My children are no longer here to be used as leverage, and should anything…unpleasant happen to me, an attorney in a completely different legal firm will execute my last direction, which is to call Deputy Chief Johnson and Deputy District Attorney Hobbs and pass on a summary of everything I have learned about you, your associates and their activities, together with a copy of every voice mail message that has passed between you and Simmonds" Wynter tried to stand but was brought up short by the chains, slumping back then looking to me, his voice rising angrily.

"You think you're tough bitch, you don't have a fucking clue" Wynter stared at me, anger suffusing his face as his voice calmed. "I can have you just fucking disappear" I nodded.

"You could, but then that information will be conveyed to Johnson and Hobbs, plus I can guarantee that there won't be a lawyer in California, and likely not anywhere in the United States, who will take your case" I gave a shrug, hoping to convey a nonchalance I didn't feel, honestly I was terrified by the risks I was taking but desperately trying not to show it.. "You can then take your chances defending yourself against special circumstances capital charges without representation" I smiled a little at that thought. "Given your attitude and demeanor, which I'm sure the judge and jury are going to love, I would suspect your trial will set a number of records for speed and severity of sentencing"

"This isn't over you cunt" he snarled as I tipped my head to regard him.

"Abusing the only lawyer in California who will try and defend you isn't exactly the height of intelligence Mister Wynter" I paused. "If you wish to cease retaining my firm as your defence attorneys, that is your decision, but I can guarantee you that no one will represent you, not from my firm and once the word gets round, not from any others" I shook my head at him. "Do we understand each other Mister Wynter?"

He was silent; I could see the anger there, warring with his common sense. I wasn't sure who would win however common sense finally won out, just.

"Fine, whatever, but if you leave me hanging, tank the defence, you're dead" I nodded.

"Please recall that if anything happens to me, the evidence that will be made available to the prosecution will guarantee you a place on death row until you die of old age, staring at the outside world through razor wire and bars"

"Whatever" I nodded.

"Just so we understand each other, Mister Wynter" I pulled out the case working file and, dropping it to land flat on the table, I pulled out the chair on the other side of the table from him, unwilling to sit any closer to this loathsome monster than I absolutely had to and spoke. "Let us begin"

 **Wyoming Cheyenne The Dearing Family Farm**

Jane's viewpoint

Not long after noon we'd slipped away from the LAPD and done a quick run by our houses, grabbed some essential clothes, tossed them into bags and made our way out to LAX and the Pacific Aviation terminal. There we'd handed over our car keys, they'd promised to have them securely parked for us to await our return while returning Kate's rented Audi for her.

The departure was mercifully quick, we'd lifted off from LA not long after walking into their terminal, fleeing the city and the memories it held for somewhere far away, someplace safe. It wasn't Sherri and Tara looking after us this time, instead another crew but they obviously picked up on the somber mood in the plane almost immediately, leaving us to spend the flight mostly wrapped around each other.

The plane was very quiet.

Fortunately even though the plane was bigger than the one we'd taken to New York, a big Bombardier Challenger this time, it was still way smaller than the commercial jets; that meant it could land at smaller airports so we got to fly direct into Cheyenne instead of routing via Denver, saving us a long drive. The air was cold and crisp, the dark clouds threatening to snow as we disembarked; we'd need some warmer clothes if we were going to spend any time out and about here.

A couple of rented SUV's were waiting for us at the terminal but there was no one to greet us, Nat's parent's Christie and Peter were away on their long-planned holiday in Africa, not due back for almost two weeks. Ana had apparently rung ahead and the Judge, who was keeping an eye on the place in their absence, making sure the horses and cattle were fed and such, had unlocked the house and started the fireplace for us so the house would be warmed up for our arrival.

We drove out to the farm and found the Judge had been as good as his word; he'd left a hand-written note, telling Ana to call if we needed anything, or to just talk, something I guessed she'd be doing sooner or later, probably sooner.

 **Washington DC The Pentagon**

Sarah Mackenzie's viewpoint

I sat across from Leroy Gibbs back in the secure conference room; we'd spent the last two hours going through the files we'd received from the Bureau's Director Brooks.

In a nice piece of inter-agency cooperation, the Bureau had identified the server building, the LAPD had scoped it out and confirmed it was important, the Bureau had electronically infiltrated it with our help and now were feeding the take from their intrusion back out to us.

In the same spirit we'd passed on a list of suspects, all military people that had worked together in a multi-service I.T. office here in Washington years ago. They included a Navy Petty Officer, Phillip Chen-See, who we were almost certain had stolen the military grade encryption that the Cabal were now using, plus the senior NCO in the office at that time, a Marine Gunnery Sergeant named Larson. It also included the three guys who were now working for that IT place out in Victorville, not to mention that section had been the last place Simmonds had been posted before he discharged. Way too many coincidences to ignore, especially as many of them had expensive lifestyles their pay couldn't explain.

Now we were going through the Bureau's data on our suspects, surprisingly it seemed that most of the people who had worked in that office were still receiving money from the Cabal, the Bureau's tech wizards had been able to track money from specific bank accounts into separate accounts that turned out to belong to most of the people on our list of suspects.

Now we were going through psychological profiles and service histories, looking for the ringleader or ringleaders, we'd narrowed it down a lot, to the point that we had identified Larson as the lynchpin of the operation within the Pentagon.

"He was in the same unit as Simmonds at Fallujah and worked in the Green Zone at the same time as Simmonds and Wynter were there as security contractors. I figure that Simmonds introduced Larson and Wynter at some point and they came to an arrangement" Gibbs stated, drawing a slow nod from me.

"Did Larson have a role that would have interacted with either man, something that would have made him of value to them?" Gibbs gave me an 'I know something' smile.

"He was working in the security liaison office overseeing access and security in and out of the Baghdad Green Zone" I sat back, now that was really, really interesting, something I commented on.

"In that role he would have oversight on which vehicles were searched, and more importantly weren't, coming into the Green Zone" Gibbs nodded slowly.

"Yeah, if you had the right access pass and clearance, something he was responsible for issuing, you drove right on in, no searches required. Perfect to smuggle stuff in to the people inside and if Ana and the other cops are right, if they were supplying people in Iraq with a range of…merchandise…to use the Cabal's term for it, Larson was in the perfect place to facilitate that"

"So you believe that he cut a deal with Wynter, and that their arrangement persisted once they all ended up back stateside?"

"It makes sense, Wynter gets back to the states, decides to reconstitute his business back here and starts putting the band back together" Gibbs shrugged. "Simmonds and Larson help them tap into some of the people they were working with, I.T. people, they end up being recruited and either end up outside and running the Cabal's I.T. systems, or they're embedded within the Department's procurement system, enabling the Cabal to source weapons, explosives, equipment, software, you name it, all courtesy of Uncle Sam"

"I'm surprised that, given their connections and the ability they've already shown to acquire military grade weaponry, more of it hasn't turned up out on the street, lots of organised crime and street gangs would pay well for that sort of firepower"

"No" he stated unequivocally. "Way too easy to draw a line straight back to a military source, you can't legally acquire an M4 on the street, any that turn up have to be stolen from the military, that's a big red flag right there" He tapped the files in front of him. "After all, that was how we got involved in this mess in the first place" I nodded at his summation.

"Something I must remember to thank Ana for" We exchanged a quiet smile; both us happy at the news out of LA, that Ana's partner Natalie and the others were safe, before I continued. "But why keep paying the people still here inside the military if they aren't selling on the street?" I frowned. "I assume they acquired those M4s we know about for their own use and kept them for a rainy day, such as one of their top people being arrested, but that wasn't an ongoing thing, they'd only need to do that once or twice to get their stocks set up" Gibbs smiled before outlining his thinking.

"Just because you can't acquire and use military weapons legally here in the states, doesn't mean they can't supply them to groups outside the country" He shrugged. "They already have the connections to sell the people they kidnap from right across the states to international buyers, the same channels could easily be used to ship weapons, ammunition and explosives" I sat back and thought about it, that made a lot of sense actually, and with US military equipment in use with so many countries across the world, combat rifles, pistols, explosives or even heavy machine guns could appear and most people would think they had been acquired from sources in the local military.

"That makes sense gunny, so what can we do to shut them down?"

"Well Colonel, I have a few ideas"

 **Los Angeles LAPD Morgue**

Kate Murphy's viewpoint

It was late afternoon and quiet in the morgue's firearms lab, I was processing some of the evidence from the warehouse, working with Megan we'd dug the slugs out of the deceased recovered from the crime scene and now I was busy comparing them under the microscope to confirm the amount of weapons the people who had attacked the facility had used.

"What's it looking like?" I looked up to see Megan leaning in the doorway, a takeout cup in her hand. I looked longingly at the coffee, I needed one, it had been a late night at the scene and we'd started early. Megan must have seen the desire in my eyes because she produced another cup from behind her back. "I thought you might want one too" I sighed.

"Oh thank god" She grinned and walked over, handing over the cup. I smiled and took a sip, coffee was caffeine, something I needed, but to my surprise it was exactly how I liked it, making me look up and smile happily at her. "Mmm, that's really good, thank you" I got a warm smile back from my colleague…friend?

"My pleasure" We stood there for a few seconds before she prompted me. "Anything interesting turn up?" I nodded, putting the cup down and waving her round to stand next to me.

"You can see here…}" She walked round the table and moved up next to me as I pointed at the monitor next to the microscope. "…as you can see, definitely 9 mill and those rifling marks suggest a pistol" She leaned in, staring at the screen then nodded.

"They're not SMG patterns, what do you think?" I looked up at her; she was standing close enough that I could note her deep green eyes once more.

"To my eye they look like Glock rifling marks, but I was about to call up the database when you arrived, angel of mercy, well coffee anyway" I got a cheerful smile.

"Same thing really" I nodded and turned back to the system and typed away into the computer keyboard. "I have to say I like some of the tech Maura has here, this rifling comparison software they've got is going into next year's budget submission" Meghan leaned in and looked over my shoulder as the screen split into two, the bullet I'd scanned on one half, a database window on the other as it started comparing patterns.

"Oh, useful?" I nodded.

"Very definitely, Maura showed it to me back when we investigating the hospital shootings, hopefully I'm using it right…" I saw it start to scan the image and smiled, I'd apparently done the right thing. "Keep watching" We stood there for about twenty seconds as it started to build a wireframe model of the slug then processed what it had scanned, before issuing a definitive and slightly satisfied tone. I read the information and smiled.

"Glock 19, almost certainly manufactured here in the US in the last two years" Megan leaned in to read the details on screen then stood back.

"Wow, we have got to get one of those" I smiled.

"I know, that's a couple of hours cross matching work completed in less than 30 seconds" She looked to me.

"You need a hand writing the budget submission for this you let me know, okay?" I looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Why Ms. Hunt, I thought you hated paperwork" I got a smirk.

"For something this good, I'll make an exception" I nodded, I couldn't blame her.

"I'll have to run it on the other two 9 mill weapons we've isolated, but I'm willing to bet they're all Glocks, they look pretty much identical" Megan nodded.

"What about that rifle, it sure did a number on everything it hit" I nodded and called up another image, showing a 7.62 round, a particularly nasty one that had pancaked into a rounded shape.

"300 Winchester magnums, it didn't look like anything I'd come across…" Megan leaned in and peered at the screen, finally leaning back.

"Nor I, what did the computer have to say?" I pulled up the report.

"Apparently this is a Hollow Point Boat Tail round, designed to deform on impact and transfer all its velocity into the target, as the autopsies showed the shock effect on unarmoured targets is massive" We'd all pulled autopsy duty this morning and some of the wounds had been massive. "The deformation effect is so severe that the computer didn't have any idea what it came from and quite obviously there was no chance of getting any rifling marks off that" I got a raised eyebrow as green eyes regarded me.

"How did you work out the round?" At her question I called up another file, this one showing a pretty much intact round.

"Most of the others had been badly deformed by passing through concrete walls, but I recovered this one from the scene, it had passed through the victim's skull and into the floor boards, almost completely intact. The computer identified it as a 7.62 mill caliber Tungsten Carbide Penetrator"

"An armour–piercing round" Megan stated, not asked.

"Yes, designed to go through body armour, walls and the people hiding behind them, which is what the others did, resulting in their deformation. This one seemed to have been a long range coup de grace, it impacted through the right mandible joint, passed through the cranial cavity and exited the left rear of the cranium and lodged in the wooden floor" Megan nodded slowly, eyes hooded as she stared at the screen. Finally she spoke.

"Was the program able to identify the weapon?"

"Based on the rifling marks it was a long-barreled weapon with a quite specific twist pattern, it gave a high probability to it being a M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle, it's a US Army weapon" Megan nodded slowly.

"So multiple Glocks and a snipers rifle, the Glocks you can get from lots of places but an Army snipers rifle, not so much" I nodded at her summation.

"We know the Cabal has access to military weapons, based on this it seems someone else does as well" Megan pursed her lips at the screen, thinking hard then looked to me.

"It looks like the military needs to improve their weapons management, so far we've found M4s, explosives, body armour, 50 caliber machine guns and now an honest to god snipers rifle, god knows what else is out there" She shook her head grimly. "The last thing we need is these weapons turning up in the hands of some of the gang-bangers on the street back home" I nodded.

"Preaching to the converted here Megan" I got a nod and we were companionably quiet for a few moments before I nodded back at the computer. "How about I show you how to set up a search, we still have those other pistol rounds to confirm" I got a smile.

"Yeah, that'd be good"

 **Wyoming Cheyenne The Dearing Family Farm**

Jane's viewpoint

That first night was hard.

Dinner had been a quiet affair. Ana had started a pile of vegetables roasting in the oven before making a quick run into town, returning a bit over half an hour later with several barbeque chickens which teamed with the vegetables to make a satisfying, filling meal. Definitely better than what our partners had been fed while they were being…held, but conversation around the table had been a bit halting, all of them were subdued. Even Rick who was normally the centre of any gathering was quiet, something that I didn't miss, nor did the others. We hadn't stayed up late after washing up, even though the fireplace in the lounge room was roaring, dispelling the chill, instead we'd headed off to bed, the others right behind us.

Maura had climbed into bed and immediately wrapped herself around me, not that it was hard to understand why. We spoke for a while before she started to drift off, just inconsequential stuff as we tried to establish some semblance of normality, of the life we had before everything had happened. She'd had a really bad night's sleep in hospital last night, something I'd had a ring side seat to, but I didn't expect anything much better tonight.

That turned out to be the truth, Maura didn't really sleep, just dozed lightly, clinging tightly to me, any movement or noise enough to wake her, things like the call of an owl or the faint, distant howl of a coyote, stuff that hadn't bothered her on our previous visits, were enough to have her wake; trembling in quiet terror. Each time I'd soothed her fears and calmed her enough to fall back asleep, but time and time again I felt her shake and held her close as I cursed Danny Wynter, Justin Simmonds and all the rest of them, wishing them an eternity in hell.

I lay there and thought it over as I wondered if the others were experiencing the same thing, coming to the conclusion that they probably were too. That led me to wonder if we needed a specialist, someone to help Maura and the others deal with what had happened, I really wasn't sure what to do, I'd never really been one for therapy, seeing the departments mandated shrinks as something to be avoided when possible, to be endured when I couldn't. Maybe we could find someone who could help Maura and the others, I didn't know where to start though; I didn't know anyone and I didn't think there was much call for people with that skill set out here in Cheyenne. I still hadn't come to a solution when eventually, after Maura had woken a few more times, she finally fell asleep, exhausted, and I did the same.

True to my premonition, we woke to find it was snowing


End file.
